The Shadow War
by Ben Myatt
Summary: Yeah, I know I said I wouldnt post it, but I got bored. the third story in my Internet series of Daikari fics.
1. Chapter 1

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Digimon in any way, shape, form, or Armadillo.

The shadow war.

**************

By Ben Myatt.

Chapter 1:

*******

Kari sat in the empty apartment, Davis's apartment. She looked around her, and frowned.

It may be that Davis didn't actually spend a lot of time here, but that was hardly the point. You'd think he'd at least make an effort to tidy up occasionally. She grinned slightly. Then again, if she knew him well enough, that prospect was about as likely as Myotismon popping round for tea and biscuits. 

She sighed, and picked up one of the magazines that lay around. Davis had said that she could use the apartment. It had come as no surprise when she had been evicted from her last building, Mainly due to the fact that there was a fifteen foot gap in the wall. Gigantic Digimon attacks were all very well for excitement, but they sure put down the value of a property. And so, Davis had said that she could use his place, since he was rarely there. 

'Stop that thought, Kari. Turn it over for a minute.'

She and Davis had been going out for a while now, and every minute was worth it. She loved him, and he loved her, but whenever it came to taking the next step… they stopped. Sure, Kari was living in his place, but Davis had so much to do. No, that wasn't it. He was afraid that he'd hurt her. he seemed to be… waiting for something.

She idly leafed through the magazine, when she heard the key turn in the door. A smiling voice echoed through the apartment.

"And who said you could go through my stuff?"

She spun, and looked into his face. Davis was grinning at her, but even so, he looked tired. She moved round the couch, and hugged him. He burst out laughing.

"What happened to 'Hello?'"

"Hello. I missed you."

He smiled again. 

"Thanks, it's always nice to know I'm appreciated."

He leant down and kissed her. When they broke apart, his grin got even wider.

"I've been looking forward to that all day."

She dug an elbow into his ribs.

"Asshole. Are you staying long?"

The smile faded. Kari looked up into his eyes again.

"You're not, are you?"

He turned away.

"I cant, Kari. I've been summoned by the powers that be."

"The UN committee?"

He nodded slightly.

"They're planning on offering me a deal. If I let them have free access to the digital world, they'll help with stopping the Shadowmon that are still running around."

She stared at his back. Davis's shoulders were hunched, like he was carrying a huge weight on his back.

"Are you going to accept?"

He turned to her, and a bright fire was burning deep in his eyes.

"Not a chance in hell."

She grinned.

"Then what's the problem? Davis, you're the most honest guy I know. If you cant take this, and stuff it back in their faces, then no one can."

She slipped her arms around his waist.

"That's why I love you, you know. You never let anyone down without a fight."

He grinned at her again.

"I love you, Kari."

"I love you too. Remember that."

She kissed him hard on the lips.

"Now, get out of here before you miss your flight."

He smiled, kissed her one last time, and headed for the door.

"I'll see you."

"I know it."

And then he was gone. Kari slumped into one of the chairs that were dotted around the room.

A year ago, Davis had found out that he was born of a line that was chosen to be the protectors of the digital world. How he had found this out was by the fact that Kari had been kidnapped, and not just by anyone, by the uncle that Davis had thought dead for nearly six years. Davis had taken his heritage, and had moved heaven and earth to rescue Kari, and just about every other Digidestined at the same time.  It had been almost inevitable that the Digidestined had chosen Davis to be their leader. After all, he was the Paladin. But the twelve gates that connected the digital world to the real world had remained open. Leaders of many countries around the world had requested that Davis keep the huge Digiports, because they had thought it would provide them with not only a new route of travelling across the human world, but also that the digital world was just another batch of resources they could pillage. Suddenly, everyone was clamouring for a stake in the digiworld, and Davis was spending a large amount of his time fending off greedy countries. 

And then, the second blow. The Shadowmon, whom the Digidestined had thought destroyed, turned out to be less dead than they had thought. The creatures were capable of spawning new Shadowmon when their blood touched the ground, so an almost unlimited supply of the strong enemy were forming.

It had started with a few raids on the small towns that dotted the digiworld. But lately, the Shadowmon had been getting bolder. It was almost as if something was marshalling them…

============================================================

The group of twelve Shadowmon looked down from the ridge overlooking the small settlement. There were many Digimon in the digiworld who weren't connected to human partners. Cheerfully coexisting with the worlds Digidestined, they happily went about their lives, unaware of the fact that they were in great danger of losing those lives.

The lead Shadowmon, an evilly scarred creature, turned to his companions, and spoke in the hissing language that originated from their home.

"At my command, we attack." 

"As you say, leader, at your command."

There was a hissing sound as the creatures drew long straight swords from leather scabbards. They stood, their black forms almost invisible against the rocks.

"Top of the morning to ya."

The creatures spun. Behind them, a huge man was standing, leaning against a rock, grinning at them slightly. He was dressed in a combat uniform. He also held a rifle down at his side. 

"Now, I know you were thinking of attacking that wee village there, but how's about this instead: I shoot your leader through the head, and my men blow the living hell out of the rest of you."

The lead Shadowmon snarled.

"Who are you to dictate to us? I see no other humans around you!"

The big man didn't say anything, but instead looked pointedly at the Shadowmon's chest. The creature looked down. A small red dot was settled over his heart. he snarled an order to his companions.

"Kill them!"

He raised his heavy sword, and the man's hand flashed up. The rifle spat twice, driving the Shadowmon to the ground. a dozen more shots echoed around the rocks, and the remaining creatures dropped.

Liam Dillon shook his head sadly. 

"Jesus, but these buggers never learn."

His troopers came down from the rocks, and he pointed out two of them.

"Garret, McKesson, it's your turn."

The two soldiers grimaced, and drew their own swords. They set about cutting the heads from the Shadowmon, preventing them from spawning. Liam turned to his second in command.

Nick Pallet was a twenty-five year old cockney Londoner. Since the death of Liam's former second, Tetsuo McKane, he had been filling in. Both Liam and Nick had come from the NIDF (Northern Ireland Defence Force) and both had quit years ago. Now they were fighting again, but this time they were fighting an enemy that never surrendered, and didn't know when to quit. Fortunately, they weren't too bright either.

"How many is that this week?" Liam asked.

"I make it thirty, and it's only Monday. They're getting bolder."

Liam nodded. Everyone in the squad had noticed that the Shadowmon were attacking more frequently, and even worse, they seemed to be getting organised. He shook his head.

"This ain't good, Nick. We've got bloody foreign powers trying to muscle in, we don't have nearly enough ammo, and we've got no way of getting reinforcements."

Pallet shrugged.

"What can we do? I mean, the Digidestined can help us, but we can't rely on them to heavily. Most of 'em are just bloody kids."  

Liam looked over to the village. The bait had been taken, and even if they hadn't stopped the Shadowmon here, the village was full of Digidestined, using it as a temporary base. Pallet looked with him.

"So what's the plan?"

The Irishman shrugged. 

"We've been hoarding supplies in Coast town. We're also turning the place into a fortress. When Davis gets back, everyone's gonna fall back into there."

Pallet frowned.

"We're gonna sit it out in a siege?"

Liam nodded again.

"That's the idea. If all else fails, it's a place where we can easily evacuate from. We're hoping that we can draw whoever is organising the Shadowmon out into the open."

The Londoner grinned.

"Where the boss-man can get a clear shot at them, right."

"Aye. That's the plan."

Trooper Garret came up to them.

"All done, boss."

"Right then, back to base."

=============================================================

Underneath the digital world, there is a huge network of natural tunnels. Some say they were formed when Ichiro Motomiya, Davis's ancestor, and the original Paladin, had defeated the forces of the twelve dragon-lords. They say that the very earth shook, and the tunnels were formed. Many Digidestined have, over the years, used them as shelter.

But now they are being used by something else.

Deep in the darkness, a huge red eye opens. Deep in that unforgiving blackness, a cruel mind awakes, after many years of sleep. 

The time has come, the mind feels.

The time for vengeance.

The time for conquer.

The time of the fall.

====================================================================================

(A/N) 

oh, hell. I know when I previously posted this chapter I said I wouldn't post any more on FFnet, but I made a little resolution to myself that if my hit counter went over 2500, I'd post some more. Well, my hit counters now over 2600, so it's time to keep that resolution. Chapters 2+3 are up next! The more hits I get, the more I post! ^_^

-Ben.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2:

********

"Bullshit, sir!"

"Mr Motomiya, you will refrain from using that sort of language in this room."

Davis turned to cast a malevolent look at the chairman. The small conference room in which he was now sitting had been used by many people in the past. Presidents, Prime ministers, Ambassadors, but never before had it been used to decide the fate of an entire world. And now he was sitting in the small room in a nondescript British building, deciding that fate. 

"Mr Chairman, I am not an official member of the UN. I am not a Diplomat. What I am is someone who was elected to lead a group of free individuals to whatever ends that may require."

Across the table from Davis, one of the American ambassadors snorted. Davis turned back to look at him.

"Have you got something to say Mr Johnson?"

The man stood, and smirked at Davis. 

"Mr Chairman, my friend across the table says he has been elected the leader of a group of free individuals. Need I remind everyone here that most of those "Free Individuals…"

The mocking tone in his voice was apparent. Davis could sense where this was going.

"…Are merely a group of animals? Are we really going to allow ourselves to be talked to by a bunch of small creatures?"

Davis calmed himself. He couldn't get angry, not now. That would make him vulnerable, and he couldn't allow that.

"I don't think many of the Digimon population would appreciate being called 'Small Creatures', Mr Ambassador. In fact, I can think of some who would be positively offended by it."

The Ambassador smirked at him.

"Give me a break, Mr Motomiya. We're talking about a bunch of dumb animals here!"

The Chairman, seated at the head of the table, fixed Johnson with a steely gaze.

"Tell that, Mr Johnson to the Digimon who beat me at chess last night, the one partnered to my daughter. It's the first time I've been beaten in eight years."

Johnson looked momentarily taken aback. 

"Well, all I'm trying to say is…"

The second American Ambassador, who was seated on Davis's side of the table, stood.

"What you're trying to say, Mr Johnson, is that if they look different to us, they shouldn't have the same rights as us. Am I right?"

"I…"

"Am I right, Mr Johnson?"

Johnson didn't speak again, but sat, an expression of deep anger crossing his face. Denton, the second ambassador, nodded at Davis, and also sat. Davis turned to the chairman once more. 

"Mr Chairman, I came to this place, at invitation, to make a request. I ask for military aid against in the problem of the Shadowmon, from all of the countries whose representatives currently sit around this table.

I don't ask for aid, unless it is drastically needed, and I know that your countries would be reluctant to give aid to the digital world. But allow me to paint a worst case scenario picture."

He turned, and nodded at TK, who had been sitting quietly throughout the exchange, a bemused look on his face.

"Mr Takaishi here has been managing affairs in the digital world whilst I've been out here. He has some news to give you all."

TK stood, and took a controller from his pocket, activating the projector that was mounted on the table. He pressed the button, and the first slide appeared on the screen. It was a blown up picture of a Shadowmon. 

"A Shadowmon. I'm presuming you all read the briefing package on these guys, so I wont linger here, but needless to say, as we all know, they are strong, fast, and there are damn near an infinite amount of them."

The next slide appeared on the screen, a top down map of the digital world.

"The digital world currently has a fighting force of approximately one hundred and fifty former NIDF troopers. The Shadowmon population has been increasing rapidly. Our troops have dealt with approximately a thousand of them in the last three months. Even better, it now appears that someone is mustering them. A general, if you will. We don't know what, and we doubt we'll be able to find out any time soon."

The British ambassador, Jack Torrance, put up his hand.

"Why wont you be able to find out?"

"Because, as TK said, we are severely limited when it comes to manpower. The surface of the digital world is just that, the surface. There is a huge network of tunnels that extends underneath the entire world." Davis answered.

Torrance nodded.

"That would make it difficult."

TK continued.

"We are currently taking some measures to protect digiworld citizens at the moment."

He indicated a city on the edge of the ocean. Another click on the controller brought up a close in view of the town.

"This is Coast Town. We've been fortifying it for the past two months. In the near future, all of the digiworld citizens will fall back to coast town, where we can easily defend ourselves, or if it boils down to it, evacuate over the ocean."

The chairman had been leaning forward intently.

"A sound strategy. What do you need our help for?"

Davis answered once more.

"Well, again it boils down to manpower. We have one hundred and fifty men to cover approximately eight miles of wall. It can't be done to any standard, so we need help."

The lights came back on, and the chairman sat back, looking at the speculatively.

"An interesting proposition, Mr Motomiya, but tell us this, why should we involve our military forces in your conflict?"

Davis glanced at TK, who nodded. He looked down the length of the table.

"Because if we don't stop the Shadowmon at coast town, then they will have free access to the twelve portals that connect the digital world to this one. And there will be no limit to their numbers."

=============================================================

"Well, how do you think I did?"

TK grinned across at Davis.

"Personally, I think you scared the living hell out of them. They were torn between their greed for using the digital world and the fact that they could be seriously screwed."

Davis grinned back at him.

"Thanks. Your speech gets more eloquent with every minute."

"Comes from spending time with you. C'mon, let's got get the rest of the guys."

They carried on walking to where Ken and Cody were waiting.

"How'd it go?" asked Ken.

Davis shook his head.

"We'll know in an hour. Until then, I say we get some lunch."

DemiVeemon, who until that moment had appeared to be sleeping on a bench, opened an eye.

"Did someone say lunch?"

Patomon fixed him with a baleful look. 

"Is that ALL you think about?"

DemiVeemon grinned. Cody shook his head in despair at the pair of them, and turned back to Davis.

"By the way, I found what you were looking for."

"Seriously?"

Cody nodded.

"It's not far from somewhere we can get lunch. C'mon."

=============================================================

The digital world troopers marched into the camp, looking weary, battered, and unhappy. Most of them broke apart from the main group almost immediately, and went to find somewhere to lose consciousness for a couple of hours. Liam Dillon however, had other plans in mind.

Walking away from his troops, he looked around for the medical tent. Finally he located the structure, and pushed through the flap. Inside, the first person he saw was Jun Motomiya. Davis's sister had received her doctorate earlier in the year, and now spent the majority of her time in the digital world, patching up Digidestined and Liam's men. Right now she was crouched next to a young child, and the concentration on her face gave her a knife-edge beauty that an observer would only notice after the event. As she finished up, she turned to look at him.

"Oh, it's you. I wont even bother."

"Well thankyou Jun, I love you too." 

She grinned at him.

"How are you doing, Liam?"

He sank gratefully into one of the chairs. All of the aches and pains of the last week catching up on him.

"I'm holding together. I'm looking forward to when we're ensconced in coast town though. Yourself."

"Pretty much the same. Until Davis gets back, I'm stuck doing medicals in a tent, so…"

They sat in companionable silence for a minute, and then Liam stood. 

"Well, I'm gonna go get some food. I've been on rations for the past three days. Would ya be knowing where Mimi is?"

"I think she's already over in the food hall. I'll catch up with you later."

"Alright. See ya."

He left the tent, and trudged over to the long canvas covering that sheltered the food hall. He ducked underneath the covering, and walked over to the counter.

"Two pints of lager, and a packet of crisps, please."

Mimi glanced round at the sound of his voice, and grinned.

"Hi Liam! When did you get in?"

"About ten minutes ago."

"And you didn't come straight here? I'm disappointed."

Sora's voice came from below the counter.

"Oh, give it a rest you two. What'll it be, Liam?"

"Just some food, thanks love."

She poured some soup into a bowl, and passed it over to him. He glanced down at it, then up at her again.

"Supplies getting low?"

"No, I just thought you could stand to lose some weight."

He gave her a withering glare, and went to a table. A couple of minutes later, Mimi was sitting opposite him. 

"I'm gonna ask you a question, Liam, and I want a straight answer."

"If it's "Does this apron make me look fat," we've done that joke."

She kicked him under the table, and he grinned. Then her face turned serious.

"Tell me, how bad is it getting out there?"

He looked up from his soup, into her deep brown eyes. He saw that she wouldn't brook any opposition, and he chose not to offer any.

"It's bad. We're under armed, undermanned, and I've got a bad feeling that we're gonna be fighting a running battle all the way to coast town. That's how bad it is."

She gave a small, tense grin.

"What's the upside?"

"The face that if they come after us, we can kick their arses."

"That works."

Liam paused only to eat some more of his dinner.

"So how's everyone here holding up? I know Jun's looking forward to getting to coast town."

Mimi grinned again.

"Yeah, but that's because Tai's there, organising for the siege. I'm looking forward to it too. Palmon's waiting for me there." 

Lima grimaced.

"Seems everyone's looking forward to being on the run. I'm just dreading what will wait us when we come back out again."

But Mimi wasn't looking at him anymore. She was staring over his shoulder, at a point behind him.

"That cant be…"

Liam turned, and saw a blonde-headed man duck into the tent. He grinned as he slung a duffel bag onto the floor. Mimi suddenly ran past him, and leapt into the stranger's arms. She hugged him like an old friend, and Liam felt a spike of Jealously erupt, unbidden in his stomach. It shocked him, for the most part.

The pair came over to where he was sitting. Mimi's face had lit up like a Christmas tree. 

"Liam, this is Michael."

=============================================================

Tai stood on one of the walls of coast town, looking out at the expansive meadow in front of him. He looked up as Matt lent on the wall beside him. 

"Looks so peaceful." The blonde man said.

Tai nodded. 

"Hard to think of it as a battlefield."

He turned to his friend. 

"How are we for supplies? Davis sent me an email asking for an update."

Matt grinned.

"I'm amazed he found the time. He's got so much on his plate at the moment."

Tai's face didn't mirror the grin.

"You have no idea. He's got dignitaries ganging up on him. We've got some of the Americans on our side, but not enough to count, along with the British, Irish and Canadians, but other than that, we're not gonna get much help."

"Figures. Anyway, the warehouses are nearly full. I've moved all the supplies down to the waterfront warehouses. Far as possible from any battle situation. I left Tasha handling it for the moment."

"TK will be impressed by that."

"Heh. Oh, and by the way, I've got another surprise for you."

"What?"

"Tai!"

The older Digidestined spun around. Kari was walking up the stairs towards him, a grin on her face. Tai grinned back at her. 

"Hey, what are you doing here?"

"I got tired of sitting on my ass, so I decided to come and help. I'm gonna be in here anyways, once Davis gets back."

Tai nodded. His little sister came and leaned on the wall at his other side. Gatomon leapt up beside her, and stared down.

"So, this is the place, huh?"

"Yup. I have a feeling we're all gonna be spending a lot of time on these walls."

"Well, unless we have any nasty surprises, I think we'll win."

"It's the nasty surprises I'm worried about…"

=============================================================

The Jewellers was a small place, discrete and tidy. Just the kind of place Davis had been looking for. He turned to Cody. 

"You did good, man. Maybe you guys should go back to the UN building and wait, huh? Me and TK can handle it from here."

Ken looked confused.

"You drag us out here and then tell us to… ah."

He had caught the slight grin on Davis's face. Then he turned to and Cody.

"I bet those reports from coast town are in. I could use a hand sorting them?"

"What? Oh, yeah. Right."

The two of them disappeared into the crowd. TK grinned at Davis.

"SO you're actually going through with this?"

Davis grinned right back at his friend.

"Oh yeah. Nothing I've ever wanted to do more."

They entered the small shop. Davis glanced around. There were various clocks in a case off to the sides of the shop. A young man sat behind the counter, reading a newspaper, which he hastily put away when they entered.

"Can I help you guys?" he asked.

The youth had sandy-coloured hair, and was pulling off a pair of glasses that he obviously used for close work. When he gazed at them, there was a slight smile on his face, as if he found the whole world slightly amusing. His green-blue eyes studied them intently.

"Erm… I need to buy a ring." Said Davis.

The boy nodded.

"Any particular kind of ring?" he asked.

Davis smiled, and blushed deeply.

"…An engagement ring."

The smile on the youth's face quirked a little wider, and he stood, pulling a tray of rings out from their nestling place under the counter. 

"Well sir, we have a wide selection here, as you can see. What design were you thinking?"

Davis looked momentarily taken aback, before he stepped forward to look at the rings in the tray. TK stepped forward with him. He grinned at the boy.

"You'll have to forgive him. It's his first time doing this."

He glanced at Davis.

"Any ideas?"

Davis nodded, and pointed at a ring in the centre of the tray. It was a gold band, with a small emerald jewel set in the middle.

"That one."

The youth nodded, and placed the ring in a box. Davis handed over his credit card. 

"They actually let you have one of those things?" TK asked.

"Hey, I'm not the one who blew three-hundred bucks on dates in a month."

"What can I say, I'm a romantic."

The boy turned back to them, handing them a receipt and a small bag. Davis grinned at him. 

"Thankyou. Thankyou very much."

The youth's grin broadened again.

"Your welcome."

They turned to go, but TK turned back, frowning.

"Do I know you from somewhere? You seem familiar."

The boy shook his head.

"No, I'd probably remember you two."

They laughed, and left the shop. 

=============================================================

As they walked through the crowd, Davis looked at his friend.

"You know, he did seem familiar."

TK nodded. 

"Hey, his name should be on the receipt, right?"

Davis glanced down at the piece of paper in his hand.

"'Ben Myatt.' Weird name." 

"Huh."

The two friends walked away.

===========================================================

(A/N)

Yes, I KNOW the cameo was cheap. Gimme a break, okay??? ^_^ 

I know that this chapter isn't amazingly exciting, but I was suffering from writers block at the time, and my view of writers block is that you have to force you way through it. It's like constipation in that way. 

-Ben.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3:

********

Tasha Konicha picked at her plate, sighed, and turned back to the stack of papers on her desk. 

Desk was actually the wrong word. It was more a scene of controlled chaos than anything else. Since she, Matt and Tai had started sorting out the stocks of supplies in Coast Town; she had immersed herself in the practical side of things only to find that the amount of paperwork had increased in direct proportion to the amount of time she spent sorting out the warehouses.

And so, snarling at a grinning Tai not to comment, she had gone to her desk, and started wading through the lists of food, drink and other supplies. Honestly, how much toilet paper could one town need?

'But then, it is a town preparing for a siege.'

Salamandramon hopped up on the chair beside her, and looked at the stacks.

"Wow." The little lizard-Digimon said.

"Don't even think about it."

"Do you try to create this much mess, or does it just come naturally?"

Tasha glanced at the desk, which in all possibility could cover up experiments in chemical warfare, and glared at Salamandramon again.

"Shut… up."

"Are you busy?"

She looked up suddenly at the sound of the familiar voice, and smiled.

Takeru Takaishi stood framed in the doorway, grinning in at her. She smiled back, then glanced at her desk.

"Busy. Me? Nah."

He laughed, and came in. then he looked at her desk himself. 

"Hey, I think some missing Digimon might be hiding in there."

"SHUT… UP!"

TK smiled again. Tasha glared at him.

"So when did you get back in?"

"About an hour ago. Being the romantics we are, Davis immediately went in search of Kari, and I came looking for you."

"it's nice to be appreciated." 

"That and I was gonna help you with the paper work. Davis's orders. In fact, he told me to do this."

He picked up a stack of paper, and dumped it into the large trashcan.

"What?"

"We don't need the lists. Davis is confident in your ability to manage the warehouses."

"Great. Suits me fine." 

He grinned at her, and then leaned over and kissed her. When the finally broke apart, she grinned.

"Took ya long enough."

"I missed you."

"You'll miss me even more once the siege starts. We'll both be busy…"

"Not THAT busy."

=====================================================================

Davis didn't find Kari. Instead, he found himself standing on the walls, not far from where Tai and Matt had stood the day before, looking down onto the meadow beneath. For not the first time, he found himself questioning his own judgement. What if he wasn't the leader that he wanted – no, HAD to be? if he failed here, then all he was had come to nothing.

Suddenly, he found himself wishing that he could talk to Gennai. The ancient guardian of the digital world had been the one who introduced Davis to the power of the Paladin. He had trained him, so that he could rescue Kari. After the battle with Paul, his uncle, Davis had gone back to that small house in the mountains, but Gennai had been gone, and the house had stood deserted. And so Davis was alone.

"Oh, stop being so miserable."

Veemon turned round, looking at Davis in annoyance. 

"Honestly, anyone would think that your gonna die tomorrow. Get a grip on yourself."

Davis glared down at him. 

"Maybe I will die tomorrow."

"But you never know."

He jumped as Kari spoke close to his ear. He looked round at her, and glared at the smirk on her face.

"You know, it's a good thing there's no ceiling out here, otherwise we'd be scraping you off it." 

He tried to keep the glare on his face, but failed. Instead, he burst into a grin.

"Well, thankyou for breaking up MY miserable mood."

"He needed it." Said Veemon. Right before Davis knocked him back off the wall.

The Paladin put his arms around Kari's shoulders, and held her close. His eyes drifted back to the meadow

"So. What's wrong?"

He glanced at her.

"In short, I'm scared, Kari. I don't know if I have what it takes to do this. I don't know if we'll win."

"Davis, I once told you that we never know what the future holds. We wont know what will happen until we're down there, fighting that battle."

She wrapped her arms around him.

"But we will win. So long as we've got you, we'll win."

=====================================================================

Liam Dillon had left Mimi and Michael alone shortly after their meeting. Hell, he hadn't been contributing much to the conversation anyway. He lay on the camp bed in his tent, unable to sleep, just staring up at the ceiling.

He sighed. Sometimes he missed running his pub. The little place he had founded in Odaiba with the severance money he had received from the NIDF had been enough to keep that little piece of Ireland, even in Japan.  And he always had that piece with him. He fingered the small cross that hung on its chain around his neck. Why was he still fighting, after all this time. When he had left the NIDF, he had sworn to himself that he would never carry a gun again. But here he was, with a rifle lying at the side of his bed and his silenced Beretta in its holster at the small of his back. When Kari had been kidnapped by Paul, Davis's uncle, he had once again picked up the pistol, and carried it into battle. For what was right.

He laughed quietly at that. When had he ever done anything right? All he had done was killing; so many times that he couldn't even count anymore. Because when it boiled down to it, Liam Dillon was a warrior. He fought because he was good at it, and it was a part of his nature. He could kill at a drop of a hat if necessary.

So why did one girl have so much power over him? Mimi was… special. He couldn't think of any other way to describe her. She made him feel like he had done something right for a change. 

And now this Michael lad had turned up on the scene, and everything Liam felt was thrown into confusion. Why had he felt such a spike of Jealousy when Mimi had hugged the blonde boy? He didn't understand it. He was a man who lived his life from day to day, and he had never complained. 

His reverie was shattered in a single instant.

=====================================================================

The sentry at the Digidestined camp was as alert as he always was. All of Liam's troops knew that a sentry who was distracted was a recipe for disaster, so they always kept their attention razor sharp. 

And so it was that the Digidestined and troopers inside had a warning when the first Shadowmon lurched out of the gloom. As the trooper, whose name was Sean Riley, saw the first of the Malformed shapes in the large searchlight, he raised his rifle to his shoulder, and kicked away the support that held the alarm bell up. The bell's ringing was loud enough to wake the whole camp, and as Riley fired his first shot, troopers and Digidestined were already running to his aid. 

Riley's rounds felled several of the creatures, sending them tumbling headlong into the grass that lay around the camp, but there were far more Shadowmon here than the standard twelve to twenty that the troopers had been fighting.

=====================================================================

Michael and Mimi had still been engrossed in deep conversation when the alarm bell had started to ring.

"So, what have you been up to?" the pink-haired girl asked.

"The usual. Uni, partying, you know, all that stuff."

Mimi smiled grimly.

"No, I don't. I haven't been to a real party for nearly six months."

Michael raised an eyebrow. 

"I guess fighting a war doesn't really do wonders for your social life. How bad has it been?" 

"Bad. Liam and his troopers have been fighting day in, day out. And now we have to reach coast town in one piece. Once there… who knows?"

"It sounds bad. Who is this Liam guy, anyway?"

Mimi grinned. 

"He's a soldier. He's been fighting for us since Paul kidnapped Kari last year. But you weren't here for that, were you?"

"No. They didn't come after many USA Digidestined. The place is too well defended." 

"hmm."

"Why did you go away and fight? You didn't have to."

"Michael! These people are my friends, and some of the closest family I ever have!"

He grinned.

"I know. But I missed you anyway."

She smiled right back at him, her dyed pink hair framing her face.

"Thank you. I missed you too."

They were leaning close together. Almost close enough too…

The alarm bell cut off anything that might have happened. They looked up, and as Sora raced from the kitchen, the three of them were dashing for the entrance of the tent.

=====================================================================

The four of them stepped out into the middle of a battlefield. Shadowmon were running wild, as the Digidestined and troopers fell back behind them. Mimi, Sora and Michael were caught in the middle of the tide. They could see the line of troopers, shields shining in the glare of the lights. They were at least a hundred yards away. 

To the three Digidestined, it might has well have been a hundred miles. The Shadowmon were running towards them, blades bared, when something like a image of ages past burst from the battle line. 

Liam Dillon ran, his sword shining in the dull light. As Mimi, Sora and Michael reached him, he swung the large blade in an arc, neatly slicing into the lead Shadowmon. 

The big Irishman pulled the blade free, swinging round, bringing up his pistol as he went. Pulling the trigger, he sent a volley of bullets at the advancing creatures, blasting them back.

"RUN!" he shouted, his Ulster accent even clearer than usual. 

The four of them dashed for the battle-line, running for their lives ahead of the tide of Shadowmon. 

Liam stumbled on the craggy ground, falling headlong, his pistol flying from his grip. He heard Mimi's scream, and swung his sword round in a desperate parry, stopping the wickedly curved blade that had been aimed at his neck. He wouldn't have time to parry the backswing…

The Shadowmon fell back, as bullets punched into its torso. As Liam got to his feet, Michael lowered the silenced Beretta. The four turned again, and ran for the line, as the troopers fired covering shot's past them. As they stumbled through the shield-wall, Liam looked back once, at the hill that crested the camp. 

A figure was there, silhouetted against the full moon. Even at the distance, Liam could make out the stooped, malformed shape of a Shadowmon. But the creature it was sitting on was unlike anything he had ever seen. As he watched the thing reared up, and the mounted Shadowmon waved its sword high in the air. The rest of the Shadowmon turned, retreating into the darkness.  The big Irishman could only ponder what he had just seen. 

Finally, he turned away from the sight, as the battle line, sensing that the fight was over, slowly drifted apart, warily, cautiously.

Mimi was standing with Michael, and beaming at him intensely, with a pride on her face that Liam had never seen before. The spike of Jealousy spiked through his stomach again, but he forced himself to walk over to them. They turned to face him. 

"Nice shooting. I'll take that now." He indicated the Beretta.

Michael looked down, as if seeing the gun for the first time.

"Yeah."

He safed the pistol, and handed it to the Irishman, who slipped the weapon back into it's holster. Liam smiled slightly.

"It was a brave thing you did. You have my thanks."

Mimi's smile broadened. 

"It was brave, wasn't it?"

She turned to look at him, and her smile was more thoughtful, a trace of irony creeping into it.

"Mind you, you weren't so bad yourself, Mr Dillon."

"All part of the job, girl dear. I suggest you all get packed. I'm moving us out tonight. We should reach coast town before morning."

He turned and walked away, sliding his blooded sword into the scabbard as he went. Mimi stared after him, and Michael looked at her, a thoughtful expression on his face. 

"There is something about him, isn't there?"

"Yeah."

She sighed.

"But I'm damned if I know what it is." 

=============================================================

The huge red eye in the cave is joined by others now. Although they glow with some inner, dark radiance, they do not cast enough light to show the cavern in which the rest. All that can be seen is the hint of scales, and the rustling of huge wings. 

Twelve sets of huge eyes can be seen in the darkness. 

And then there is the sound of huge claws, scrabbling at stone. 

Digging a way out…

=============================================================

(A/N)

BWAHAHAHAHAHAH! If you want more, for the moment, you'll have to go visit my site.

Whats that, you want to see more chapter on FFnet? Well, lets put it as a mathematical equation.

Hits + Artwork = Chapters.

In other words, if I get loads of hits on my site, and if people send me artwork, I'll put more chapters on FFnet.

For the artwork, general or based on my fics is good, but if you want to REALLY make me happy, I'd like some pictures of Liam Dillon or the Shadowmon. 

Ja ne! VISIT MY SITE!!! 

http://members.lycos.co.uk/moose_of_doom/main.html

-Ben.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4:

********

Liam's people marched through the night, carrying their supplies on their backs. Many times, they begged him to stop.

"We can't stop. If we stop, then the Shadowmon catch up with us, and we're all to burnt out to fight a battle here." He said.

"You sound like you're trying to justify yourself." said Nick Pallet, a wry smile creasing his features.

"That's 'cos I bloody well am, Nick. I'm pushing these people hard, and I'm feeling bloody guilty about it."

"Someone has to make those decisions, boss."

"That's a great comfort, thankyou very much."

He sighed as he continued walking. 

"You know, there are days when I would just love to be back behind the bar of the pub, serving drinks and cooking meals."

"So what's keeping you?"

Liam smiled for the first time that morning.

"Because, for the first time, I feel like I'm doing something right."

"You sentimental bastard."

The big Irishman laughed, and pulled a map from his pouch, slinging his rifle over his shoulder. He saw that just over the ridge there was another camp that the digiworld troopers used as a base. He turned to look at the column of people behind him.

"Another half-a-mile, then we're at camp two. we'll rest there, before pressing on."

He saw the looks of relief pass over the tired faces, and another pang of guilt shot through him. Maybe he had pushed them a little too hard…

"Boss!"

He spun around, as one of the scout troopers came running back towards him. The man didn't stop, but just gestured for Liam to follow.  The big man didn't hesitate but ran after the scout, finally cresting the top of the ridge.

The camp below them was still burning, tents still glowing around there edges on poles that were collapsing under there own sagging weight. Liam surveyed the scene with horror. 

"Jesus… what could have done this…"

By now, other members of the party had caught up with them, and were themselves gaping at the destruction. Liam turned to them.

"Mimi, Michael, Sora, Jun, you're with me and Nick. The rest of you stay here until we find out what happened. Garret, get on the radio, and call up coast town."

The six people started walking down the hill, towards the camp.

=============================================================

Davis burst into the Radio room at Coast town, with Kari close behind him, both obviously breathless from running to the small building that served as the command and control centre. Davis was about to speak, when Cody, who was listening intently to the headset, held up a hand, silencing him. Finally, he spoke, his calm demeanour not changing a jot.

"Garret, Davis is here. I want you to repeat what you just told me."

He pulled out his headphones, allowing Garret to talk over the speakers.

"I repeat, Base two has been destroyed by forces as yet unknown. It's a war zone down there, Davis. Whatever came through here was big, nasty, and extremely powerful. We request Immediate Evac from the area, and back to coast city. Over."

Davis picked up a microphone, and pressed the transmit button.

"I copy, Garret. We'll be coming out to get you, ASAP. Where's Liam? Over."

"He went down to the camp to investigate, over."

"Copy, Garret. Evac is on its way."

"Copy."

There was a click as Garret deactivated his radio on the other end. Davis picked up the phone that lay on the desk, and dialled in the number of the warehouse office.

"Tasha, it's Davis. I need you, TK, Salamandramon and Patomon ready at the main town gates. Find Ken, and bring him with you."

He put the phone down, and turned to Kari.

"And here we go again. You coming?"

"Wouldn't miss it for the world."

They ran out of the door, Veemon and Gatomon at their heels. After a moment's hesitation, Cody ran after them.

=============================================================

Liam held his rifle in a ready position, low across his chest, ready for action. The scene of destruction around him was so intense that in a way, he was awed by the sheer effectiveness of it. He knelt, and stuck his finger into the ground at his feet.

"The ashes are still warm. Whatever was here isn't long gone."

He turned, and waved to the trooper on the ridge. The man waved back, and Digidestined started coming down the hill.

"Liam!"

He spun at Mimi's call, and ran over to where she was trying to shift a sheet of metal, the side of the radio hut for the base. He hooked his fingers underneath it, as Michael grabbed the other side. They lifted, and revealed a figure lying on the cold ground.

Joe.

=============================================================

Across the plains and fields of the digital world, there is a huge pile of rubble, which was once a citadel. The rubble is black as night, and if you looked at it, it would appear to absorb all light.

This is the remains of the tower of Paul Motomiya. Davis's uncle, and the man who had kidnapped Kari the year before. Almost a thousand feet up, Davis had faced off against Paul, sword against sword. Paul had been a victim of a power that was greater than himself, manipulated by darkness, because someone had a cruel sense of humour.

Paul had been Jake Motomiya's twin. Jake had been Davis's father, and for the first time, the line of the Paladin had two paths to go down. Jake had gained the ability to manipulate the light power, and Paul the dark. Paul's abilities, however, had left him open to an attack from an enemy that no-one had known, and no-one had ever seen.

Finally, that enemy had chosen to reveal himself.

A figure walked across the piles of rubble, that even the wild Digimon avoided. This figure, instead of stumbling as if searching, walked with a purpose. Any watchers could not have told whether the figure was male or female, because of the cloak and hood that swathed its body. What they would have noticed would be the scabbard that hung at the figure's waist. It is long and straight, and clearly holds a longsword, the hilt of which juts out sharply from underneath the cloak.

Finally, the figure reaches the top of the pile of rubble, and kneels. It reaches out a hand, and digs it deep into the rubble. The hand eventually withdraws, clutching tight around two small, rectangular objects. The first has a picture of a sword on it, blade pointed downwards, The symbol of hatred. The second has, imprinted upon it, the image of a skull, wreathed in flame. This is the symbol of death, the symbol that was, a year before, burned into Hikari Kamiya's forehead. The cloaked figure reaches down, and pulls the sword out of its scabbard. The blade shines silver in the early morning light. The stranger takes the two dark crests, and slots them into two small niches on either flat of the blade, completing the sword. The long blade turns a deep black, and the stranger turns to face the west, the direction of coast town. Slowly, with their face deep in shadow, the figure raises the flat of the blade up to its face. Then it sheaths the blade, and moves away from the rubble, vanishing in the shadows of the still-dark morning.

=============================================================

"We didn't know what had hit us, until it was all over."

Joe sat with his back against one of the few surviving walls of the radio-shack. His eyes were closed behind his glasses, and his shoulder length hair was still matted with his own blood.

"It was huge, Liam. I've never seen anything so big."

Liam Dillon knelt in front of the young man, and placed a hand on his shoulder whilst Jun bandaged his wounds. 

"What was it, Joe?"

"It was enormous. The first we saw was that first energy blast, hurtling out of the sky. It hit the medical tent first. I couldn't even see it properly, just a silhouette against the moon. Just those huge wings, beating like the wing."

He shuddered.

"And the eyes… oh god, the eyes. They were like red coals. They put the fear of god into me, Liam."

Mimi clutched her friend's hand. 

"Don't worry, Joe. We'll get you out of here." 

"It was a dragon."

Liam's eyes snapped up to study Joe's face. The younger mans eyes had finally opened, and he gazed fearfully at the Irishman.

"It was a huge Dragon, Liam. It was even bigger than Bahamamon. I think it could even have been bigger than Wargreymon. One Digimon demolished this entire base. I know it was a Digimon, because my D3 reacted to it."

"I know, Joe. Don't worry, we'll find out what's happened."

He started to get up, but the wounded Digidestined grabbed his arm.

"Liam, this thing is bigger than you or me. It's bigger than anything any of us have faced. I think Davis is the only one who might be able to stop it. I think this is another test for him, for the Paladin."

Liam said nothing, because he was remembering a story that Gennai had once told him and the rest of the few Digidestined who were the warriors against Paul. The story of the first Paladin. And suddenly he was very afraid. 

But this fear had nothing to do with the story. It was fear because his instincts told him to get out of this place now. He stood, drawing his sword, a second before the shout came from the sentries.

"SHADOWMON, COMING IN FAST!"

=============================================================

Davis was sitting astride Raidramon, and the Digimon beneath him was running as fast as he could towards base camp two. On his head he war a radio headset, at his hips he wore his two holstered Berettas, and across his back, he war the engraved scabbard that contained the golden coloured Katana that was his weapon as the Paladin. He carefully checked the weapons, not concerned about falling. If an armoured Digimon let you ride on his back, it was his job to make sure you damn well stayed there. 

"Davis!" came Kari's voice, from Nefertimon, high in the skies above them.

"Yeah? What?"

"I can see the camp! They've got Shadowmon coming at them from the hills!"

"Oh. Shit."

TK was the next on the circuit. 

"What's the plan, Davis?"

"Tell me what you can see. I don't have a view from here."

"The Shadowmon are coming in straight from the hill above the camp. Liam, the troopers and the Digidestined are entrenched in the village, at the west end, towards us. There's a few Shadowmon who are gonna reach the village soon."

"Okay. Kari, you and TK hold up the Shadowmon. Pegasusmon and Nefertimon can attack from the air. Cody, Ken, you guy's work on the evacuation. Get the Digidestined out first - the troopers can cover you. Tasha, you, me Raidramon and Bahamamon are gonna deal with those Shadowmon."

"Got it."

Kari and TK veered off, heading for the hill. Davis switched to an individual line to Tasha Konicha. 

"Have you got any weapons?"

"Only my sword."

"It'll do."

=============================================================

Liam laid the barrel of his rifle on an overturned table, and aimed at the line of Shadowmon running towards him. 

"On my mark!" 

A few of the Digidestined had picked up rifles in the past year, and they now were in the irregular battle-line. Along the line of people, there was the sound of bullets being cycled into breaches. The malformed creatures filled his vision.

"Fire!"

A volley of shots rang out, and the front line of the enemy fell, rolling head over heels as their bodies ceased to respond to their commands. Liam flipped the safety on his rifle to full automatic, and sprayed the Shadowmon. More fell, as the bullets raked their forms, but still more appeared to take their place. And the troopers were running out of Ammo. 

"Need a hand?"

Liam jerked around, and looked up at Ken.

"Anything's appreciated at this moment."

"We're evacuating the Digidestined first. Can you hold out?"

"What does it look like I'm doing, having a picnic?" 

Mimi and Michael stood beside him, rifles in their hands. He glanced at them.

"Go on, get out of here."

Instead, Mimi knelt alongside him. After a moment's hesitation, Michael did the same. Liam sighed.

"God save us from heroes. Alright, lets take 'em down."

He slapped a fresh magazine into his gun, and resumed firing at the creatures.

=============================================================

High above them, Kari and TK flew towards the hill. Nefertimon aimed her forehead at the crest of the ridge.

"ROSETTA STONE!"

Slabs of rock blasted out at the ridge, creating a high fence for the Shadowmon to climb over. Pegasusmon dived in low, and an arc of energy blasted from the jewel on the winged horses forehead, slamming into the Shadowmon ranks below.

"We can't keep this up forever, Kari!" he shouted over the radio.

"I know! We just need to give them time to evacuate."

She couldn't resist glancing back at where Davis rode over the plain. Nefertimon turned, and headed towards the village. Further blasts of Rosetta stone rocked the ground, impeding the Shadowmon attack. 

As they passed low over the village, Kari felt a wave of dizziness overcome her. Her head span, and Nefertimon suddenly fell from the sky. They hit the ground, and the huge armour-Digimon de-digivolved back into Gatomon.

=============================================================

Ken was ushering Digidestined into a carrying pod. Stingmon stood close by, his huge muscles tensed, as he prepared to lift the container. Then Ken staggered, his hand going against his forehead. 

He knew that sensation. He had felt it the year before when the crest of Hatred had been pressed into his forehead. He shook the sensation off. He had to concentrate. Then the thought hit him

"TK!"

The answer came back almost immediately.

"What?"

"Where's Kari?" 

"She headed towards the village! Something's happened to her, and Davis is on a closed line to Tasha!"

"Shit!" 

He turned, and ran to where Liam was still shooting at the Shadowmon.

"Kari's in the village! She passed out!"

"I know! I see her, but I wont get to her in time!"

He started up, nonetheless. 

But then, Raidramon leapt into view, Davis leaping from the Armour-Digimon's back. The young Paladin drew his sword from the scabbard on his back, and walked forward to stand over Kari's prone form. The Shadowmon seemed to shrink back; daunted by the blade that was the only thing they came close to fearing. They didn't hesitate long, however, before running forward. 

The first of them brought its sword in a downstroke, which could split Davis in two. The paladin swayed to the side, and brought his blade around in a backswing, slashing the foul creatures head from its shoulders. And then he was hacking, stabbing and slashing, holding the tide of creatures at bay, and then he was driving them back, the ferocity of his attack, forcing the Shadowmon back, step by step. Without any further hesitation, Liam ran to help him, as Tasha Konicha, Bahamamon beside her, landed beside Kari, picking her up, and helping her and Gatomon onto the huge dragon-Digimon's back. 

Steel rang against steel as Davis wove a wall of metal in front of himself, parrying every attack that was launched against him, and launching several of his own, sending Shadowmon reeling back, torn and bleeding. He was tiring, however. He couldn't keep this up forever. 

Then he became aware of other warriors around him, cutting deep into the Shadowmon ranks. He glanced over at Liam, who was merrily decapitating one of the creatures. The Irishman glanced at him, and grinned.

"Maybe we should withdraw?"

"That might be a good plan!" Davis yelled back, over the cacophony of sound. He glanced behind him, and saw Raidramon lower his head.

"EVERYONE DOWN!"

The warriors dropped, and the Shadowmon roared their victory.

Until Raidramon unleashed a storm of lightning, arcing through them.

"NOW RUN!!!" Davis shouted, and the troopers ran like the hounds of hell were at their backs. Raidramon scooped Davis over his head, onto his back. As they ran away from the advancing Shadowmon, Davis looked up at the sky, to where the woman he loved was being swiftly carried back to Coast city. He felt the bulk of the box in his pocket, and wondered if he would ever get to ask the question he wanted.

=============================================================

(a/n)

Oh, Aint I NASTY? Don't you just LOVE cliffhangers?

At the time I wrote this, I wasn't feeling great – I was still struggling threw writers block, and I suspect it probably shows in the writing. As you go through this fic, see how many "lord of the rings" references you can spot. Don't bother telling me, I KNOW they're there.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5:

********

Kari surfaced just before dawn the next day, to find Davis sat at the side of her bed. Actually, sitting was giving him too much credit. He had slumped forward, exhaustion finally taking over, and was lying, his head pillowed on his arms, on her bed. Beside him lay the book he had been reading. She gently reached over, and picked it up.

It was a copy of the bible. 

She was impressed. This was deep reading for Davis. His reading material usually consisted of football magazines and the match-day program down at Odaiba stadium. She looked at the page he had been reading, and one sentence leapt out to catch her attention.

'Let the children come to me, do not hinder them; for to such belongs the kingdom of god.' (_A/N: Gospel of Mark 10, verse 14. I'm a catholic so forgive the use of the reference if offended_.)

"A good sentiment." Came a whispered voice.

She looked around, being careful not to disturb Davis's sleeping form, and smiled at Liam. The big Irishman was seated in another of the straight-backed chaired. His dirty face still had several day's worth of stubble on it.

"Where am I?" she whispered.

"Coast Town hospital. You collapsed in the middle of the battle."

"I'm sorry."

"Not your fault, girl dear. Ken almost went too, only he was on the ground, so he didn't crash into a building."

"Ken…?"

Liam smiled grimly.

"Aye. Someone is messing with things that would be best left alone."

"The dark crests…"

"Yup."

Davis stirred, and muttered something. Liam smiled gently, and stood.

"I'll leave you two alone."

"What about Davis, don't you need him?"

"Girl dear, I think that if Davis needs a break. We can cope without him for a while, so let him sleep."

The big Irishman went out, and gently closed the door behind him. Kari sank back against the pillow, and placed her hand on Davis's head, running her fingers gently through his hair, soothing the nightmares that haunted him. After a while, his breathing calmed, and he didn't move. A few minutes later, she herself slipped into sleep once more.

==================================================================================== 

Liam didn't head straight for the walls when he left the hospital. Instead, he went to the communications room, where he found Ken sitting monitoring the boards.

"Anything?"

The blue-haired man shook his head.

"I haven't heard a peep from anyone. There's no-one else out there, except them, by the sounds of it."

"Huh."

Ken turned to look at the Irishman. Liam was leaning in over one of the screens, gazing into it.

"You okay?"

 Liam didn't turn.

"Liam?"

The Irishman whipped round, startled.

"Are you okay?"

"Eh, sure I am. Why would I not be?"

Ken fixed him with a look. Liam glared straight back, and finally the blue-headed young man shrugged.

"No reason, I jus thought you might want to talk."

"And what would I talk about with the resident genius?"

"Oh, I don't know. The Shadowmon, life, religion, Mimi."

Liam stood stock still, looking at Ken's smirking countenance. Finally, the Irishman grinned sheepishly..

"Alright, spill it, arsehole. What do you know?"

Ken shrugged.

"Nothing that my Eyes don't tell me. Why don't you fill me in?"

"How abouts I kick your nosey little head in?"

"You like her, don't you?"

Liam smiled slightly at the question. 

"Maybe I do. Nothing I can do about it though."

Ken looked puzzled; Wormmon spoke for the first time.

"Why not? Maybe she likes you too!"

The Irishman looked down at the little Digimon.

"Maybe she does, but not in that way. I've got a good five years on her."

"So?"

Liam didn't answer, but fixed Ken with a stony look. The thoughts clicked in his head.

"Michael. You think she likes Michael."

"Give the man a prize."

Ken wanted to tell the Irishman something, but found that no words would come. Liam gave him a sad grin.

"Don't you be worrying yourself, Lad. We've all got work to do."  

And he turned and walked out. Wormmon turned and glanced at his partner.

"You know, absolutely no good can come from this."

==================================================================================== 

TK sat on the edge of Tasha's desk, and looked over at her, grinning as she tapped a few commands into her computer.

"whatcha doin?"

"Trying to get these figures updated before tomorrow. In case you haven't noticed, we're gonna be fighting a battle soon."

TK took on a face of mock surprise.

"Really? A battle you say? This could get dangerous! I'm outta here!"

She cast him a disparaging look, and went back to her machine. He grinned again. Salamandramon, who was balanced on the table, sighed before she went back to her poker game against Patomon. The two of them were so fed up over consistently losing money to Veemon that they now practiced at every opportunity. And still lost.

"So, how goes the toil?" TK asked.

Tasha glared at the grinning face again.

"It'd go a hell of a lot easier if you shut up and let me get on with it."

The blonde-haired man looked momentarily confused.

"But why would I do that, when it irritates you so much."

He suddenly found himself falling to the floor, as she pulled the desk out from underneath him. He landed square on his behind, and looked up at her sheepishly.

"That hurt."

"You deserved it."

"Oh, will you two give it a rest?"

the two Digimon were glaring at them, their cards abandoned.

"We know that you're nervous, but can you think of another way to deal with it than irritating the living hell out of each other?"

"What do you mean nervous? We're not nervous!"

"TK, sometime in the very near future, a battle is gonna be fought on the meadow outside. If you weren't nervous, I'd consider getting you psychiatric help."

The blonde man glared at his partner, and nodded grimly, the smile slipping from his face.

"I hate it when you're right."

"Which is strange, since it's such a regular occurrence."

Tasha grabbed hold of his arm, and pulled him round.

"TK, I want you to promise me something…"

"Tasha…"

"If anything happens to me… tell my folks, okay? Go and tell them…"

"No."

"TK…"

"No, Tasha. I'm not going to go to your parents and tell them that something's happened to you."

"Why not?"

"Because nothings going to happen to you. I'm not gonna let anything happen to you, so help me."

====================================================================================

She found herself running through a seemingly endless series of corridors, jogging in an attempt to catch up with the figure moving ahead of her, who despite her efforts to catch up, is only walking, yet still drawing away.

_Kari ran through the winding maze, never losing sight of the figure in the distance. When she turns the final corner, she finds herself face to face with…_

_Davis. _

_His eyes stare blankly off into space, looking straight through her._

_"Davis?"_

_He doesn't react, until she gently places her hand on his arm. His eyes suddenly focus on her._

_"Kari? What're you doing here?"_

_"I was following you…"_

_He smiled, and hugged her. Surprised, she relaxed into his embrace._

_"It's so good to se you, Kari."_

_She closed her eyes, and held him close. _

_Suddenly, she felt a wet stickiness on her chest, and stepped back. He looked into her eyes, his face confused. She looked straight back at his face, and then her gaze drifted downwards._

_The front of his white shirt was stained, a red, crawling dampness unfolding like the petals of a cruel flower._

_Behind Davis, a hooded figure stepped back, and stood there silently._

_"WHO ARE YOU!!?" yelled Kari._

_In answer, with the sudden grating sound of metal against bone, the figure yanked the longsword out of Davis's chest. The young Paladin fell, and as he dropped, his face changed, flashing from the man Kari was in love with to the boy she had first met on that sunny day in school, and back again. He hit the ground, and lay still. She wanted to go next to him, to fall by him, to try and breathe life back into his body, but she found that she was unable to move._

_"Who are you…?"_

_It was barely more than a whisper, yet the figures head twitched minutely, to look straight at her. When the figure spoke, it was in a hissing tongue that Kari recognised, yet did not speak, for it was the language of the Shadowmon. _

_Yet for some reason, the words formed themselves in her mind, without wasting time by going through her ears._

_"You know who I am, Hikari Kamiya. And you know what I am as well."_

_She shook her head._

_"I don't know you. Why are you doing this?"_

_The figure stepped back, apparently surprised by Kari's denial. The Digidestined girl went on, seeking solace in attack. _

_"You're the one whose commanding the Shadowmon, aren't you? You're the one who destroyed base camp two!"_

_The figure gathered itself, and even though she couldn't see it in the recesses of the hood, Kari could tell that it was smiling. _

_"The time of the twelve has come, Hikari. And the paladin will fall._

_The figure brought the flat of the longsword up to its face, and burning pain ripped through Kari's head. By the time she had recovered, the figure was gone._

====================================================================================

She snapped awake.

"Davis!" she breathed.

He stirred again, and lifted his head.

"Kari? Are you okay?"

She told him what she had dreamt, and he leant up against her.

"It was just a dream, Kari."

She shook her head.

"No. It was more than that. It was a message."

====================================================================================

After leaving Ken, Liam went straight to the city walls, looking out over the plain. 

"Any trouble?"

Pallet turned to look at his commander, and shook his head.

"Nothing. They're out there, though."

Liam grunted, and leant on the wall, fishing a pair of tech-goggles out of his pouch.

Nothing. In the dark night, the goggles couldn't even pick up movement. Purely out of interest, he switched to Infrared mode.

"Nick, turn on the searchlights, now!!!"

The high-powered Arc beams flashed out into the night.

"Down on the field! Aim them down!"

The huge beams dissected the night like a sword, lancing down onto the meadow.

Liam yelled again.

"GET EVERY TROOPER UP HERE!!!"

As people, troopers and civilians alike, ran to the walls, and their jaws dropped at the sight that greeted them.

The field was crawling with undulating black shapes.

For the Shadowmon had come to Coast Town.

====================================================================================

(A/N)

looking back over this chapter, almost two months after I wrote it, I think I might as well have stamped "BLATANT FILLER" on the whole thing. I've finally gotten around to posting more of this stuff on Ffnet, and I'm gonna post ALL of the last few chapters today, to finish it all off. I've got a sub-project going at the moment, so I'm gonna write the fourth in the series after that.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6:

********

Davis ran hard up the stairs to the walls, and looked out onto the plain. Below him, the field was covered in the crawling forms of the Shadowmon, howling up at the gates walls that kept them from the inhabitants of coast town.

"Oh my god…"

"If you're praying, throw in a couple from me."

The young paladin looked over his shoulder at Tai. Kari's brother was staring down at the meadow. 

"How can there be this many? Why haven't we seen this many before?"

"The tunnels. They must have been in the tunnels."

And indeed, as he looked out over the field, Davis could see gaping entrances in the hillside, through which more of the foul creatures were pushing. He looked down at the front ranks of the Shadowmon again. And noticed that they were holding something.

"EVERYONE DOWN!!!"

The people on the walls dropped, as the volley of arrows clattered against the masonry. The troopers popped back up, firing as they went. Shadowmon dropped, but always there were more to fill their places. Liam yelled at his men.

"Stop shooting! We don't have the ammo!"

Reluctantly, the men ceased fire. Davis turned to Liam. 

"Get someone on the mounted guns! The Shadowmon come with a hundred feet, open fire."

Liam nodded, and set about organizing the town's defences. Davis went back down the stairs, to find Cody waiting for him, a flustered look on his face. The 17-year old had been running.

"What's wrong?"

"We've got people requesting to come through the Digiport. Soldiers." 

Davis glanced back at the walls. This was where he should be. then he sighed, and rubbed his eyes.

"Okay, take me to them." 

====================================================================================

Liam glanced over the wall again, looking down at the Shadowmon in the field. He shook his head. 

"Liam?"

He glanced round at Mimi. For a moment, he was surprised to see her there. But then he shrugged. 

"I hate being pinned down."

"It's the only way though, right? If we stay in here, the Shadowmon can't get at us."

The big Irishman was silent.

"…Can they?"

Liam stared down at the field, and didn't look up at her as he spoke.

"Mimi, in my experience, if an army that size wants to get into a city, it's only a matter of time before they do."

He sighed.

"Those Shadowmon have an almost infinite supply of reinforcements. We've got approximately one hundred and fifty people to defend this town. The only edge we've got is technology and imagination."

"Imagination?"

"You heard me. The Shadowmon don't have the imagination to come up with the structured battle plans we come up with. That's why they attack in swarms, trying to overwhelm us."

"So what's the problem?"

"Structured battle plans are no bloody use when you're skulking behind walls."

Palmon skipped gently up onto the wall, and sat there. 

"You might not want to be there, Palmon."

"What? They aren't even… WHOA!!!"

The little plant Digimon toppled back off the wall, landing on the floor beneath as a volley of arrows flew over the trooper's heads to rattle against the buildings behind them. Liam tried to continue, but he was overcome with a fit of laughter. Mimi glared at him.

"I'm sorry. It wasn't that funny."

"Can anyone join this party, or is it invitation only?"

Mimi's face lit up, and Liam suppressed a frown. Michael was making his way up the steps to the battlements. The blonde-headed young man put his arm around Mimi's waist. 

"Hey."

"Hey."

Palmon muttered under her breath.

"Oh, get a room."

Liam, being the only one close enough to hear, grinned. Mimi caught the look, and the big Irishman coughed self-consciously. 

"So, what brings you here, Michael?"

The blonde man shrugged.

"I came to see what everyone's been talking about in the town."

Liam stood back from the battlement.

"Well, there they are. Take a good look."

Michael stepped up to the wall, and looked down at the undulating black shapes on the field. Liam watched the younger mans face drop, his jaw falling as he looked out on the army beneath them.

"Jesus…"

Much as he tried, the Irishman couldn't suppress a slight feeling of satisfaction at the American boy's fear and shock.

"How the hell are we supposed to beat that many? With so few of us?"

Liam shrugged.

"We'll find a way. There's gotta be something, plus, we've got the paladin on our side."

====================================================================================

Davis stood at the Digiport, and waited as the first soldiers came through, just four of them. He took on a calm face.

"Can I help you?"

"Yes, sir. Are you Daisuke Motomiya?"

"I am."

"Sergeant Danny Mills, 22 SAS, sir. We've been assigned to help you."

Davis was momentarily taken aback. 

"To help us?"  
  
  


"The British government has decided to help you. Unfortunately, the American senate is so tied up by certain opposition…" Davis grimaced. "That any of their soldiers that could be sent are on standby."

Davis grinned slightly. 

"Figures. How many of you are there?"

Mills was momentarily silent. Davis spoke again.

"Sergeant, if we're gonna be fighting alongside each other, we're gonna have to learn to communicate. How many soldiers are you bringing with you?"

"…Twenty men, sir."

The young paladin smiled grimly. He'd figured as much.

"They're much welcome, all the same. What weapons are they carrying?"

"All of us are carrying Rifles, with attached grenade launchers, sidearms, and rocket launchers. We also carry a full compliment of grenade types."

"Okay. As soon as your men get through, head down to the town armoury, and get a sword and shield each."

The sergeant fixed him with a look.

  
"Mr Motomiya…"

"Sergeant, there is a huge army of Shadowmon on the field outside these walls, and you only have so much ammunition. If you wanna survive, you're gonna have to play by our rules."

The SAS man glared at him for a moment. Then he smiled.

"Well, now we know where we stand, I'll start bringing the men through."

====================================================================================

Someone had obviously been throwing his or her diplomatic weight around. The twenty SAS soldiers were armed to the teeth, and within the hour, another soldier stepped through, to be greeted by Davis.

The German GSG-9 had arrived. German special forces, also armed to the teeth, another thirty men. 

Davis grinned. It wasn't much, but he was now in command of over two hundred men. 

"You look happy."

He turned, to find Kari standing there. She had that slight grin on her face. The one that you weren't quite sure would finish up as a frown of a smile.

"I'm just starting to have a little hope."

She laughed gently.

"Hope… it's a funny thing."

He took the two steps towards her, and hugged her close.

"Kari, what's wrong?"

"I don't know."

She looked up at him.

"I can't shake off the feeling that I'm losing you, Davis. I feel like… you're dying in front of me, a piece at a time." 

He looked at her in shock. Then he nodded.

"This is about that dream, isn't it?"

"It was more than a dream, Davis. It was a message." 

"From who?"

"From whoever it is that's commanding the Shadowmon. I got this feeling off of them… like they were the exact opposite of what you are. All your courage, all your honesty. It was just a corruption of everything that you stand for."

She broke from his grip, and sat down on the low stone wall behind her. he knelt down in front of her.

"Kari, I swear that you will never lose me. I made a promise, remember? Now, forever, and always."

He placed his hand over hers. 

"Kari… I've been meaning to ask you something…"

She looked up into his eyes, and saw that he was struggling for words. She gave him a puzzled look. 

"What, Davis?"

"Kari… will you…"

"Davis!"

He looked up in annoyance. Jun was standing there. Before he could snap at her, he saw the look on her face.

"What's wrong?"

"There's someone here to speak to you…"

"More soldiers?"

"No. They're outside on the meadow."

He felt Kari grip his arm hard.

"Davis… It's them!"

He looked at her, and the thought rushed across his mind. Then he lowered his eyes and turned back to Jun.

"Let's go." 

"I'm coming too." Said Kari.

He saw the look of determination on her face, and decided that if he valued his life he'd better do as she said. 

====================================================================================

Matt, who was taking his shift on the walls, looked down at the cloaked figure on the field. From within the recesses of the hood, whoever it was called up to him.

"Where is Motomiya? I want the Paladin, not his Lackeys."

Matt felt his eyes narrow.

"Davis is on his way, until then, you can talk to me."

"In that case: I demand the total surrender of coast town. If you all lay down your arms, and walk away, then none of you will be harmed."

Sora called down from next to her boyfriend.

"As if we'd believe someone who allies themselves with the Shadowmon." 

Matt grinned at her.

"Thanks, honey."

"You're welcome." 

The cloaked figure didn't move, but Yamato Ishida and Sora Takenouchi could feel the malignant gaze from inside that hood. The person on the meadow turned to the Shadowmon. 

"Prepare to attack!"

"Hold it!"

There were excited whispers from the crowd as Davis stepped onto the battlements. In the car on the way to the walls, he had put on his body armour, and at his sides were the two holstered Berettas that he had carried against Paul the previous year. The cloaked figure turned, and bowed slightly. 

"Paladin Motomiya. It is indeed an honour to meet you."

Davis returned the gesture. 

"It seems that you know a lot about me, but I know very little about you. Will you at least give us your name?"

"I will not."

"Then we have nothing to say to each other. I will have no dealings with an enemy to cowardly to show their own face." 

Beside him, Veemon spoke quietly to Gatomon. 

"Ah, he's as diplomatic as usual, it would seem." 

The cat-Digimon laughed. Kari grinned at them both. Davis ignored them entirely. He seemed to be locked in a battle of wills against the person on the field. The figure nodded slightly.

"As you wish, Paladin."

It reached up to its hood, and pushed it away, to reveal long, raven-black hair. Davis drew in a slight breath of surprise.

"My name is Taythe, Paladin." The girl said. "And I have come for what is mine."

"And what do you believe is yours, Taythe?"

The woman on the plain shrugged.

"The digital world. And the real one too."

Davis laughed.

"Yeah, right. Why don't you ask for our souls and lives whilst you're at it?"

Taythe's eyes narrowed.

"I'll have those soon enough anyway." 

She gestured, and two Shadowmon stepped forward, to stand just behind her soldiers. The malformed creatures dwarfed her physically.

"I demand that you hand over coast town to me. If you do, then all of your people may go free, excepting yourself. You are too much of a threat to me. But only if you lay down your arms now, and leave the city and its supplies to me."

Davis stood back slightly from the battlement, and looked along the wall, left and right at his soldiers and people.

"Well? If anyone wants to leave, speak their minds."

There was no reply. Silence reigned along the wall. Then, abruptly, there was the communal sound of rifles being cocked. Davis smiled his thanks at his people, and turned back to Taythe.

"You have your answer."

Her eyes narrowed, and she looked, to Davis, like a spoiled child when her parents say no. 

"Then you will die. You will all die. I will take your souls…" she started to yell.

Daisuke Motomiya's hands whipped up, and his twin Berettas spoke twice.

Taythe just stood there, and smirked.

"You missed, Paladin."

Davis just grinned slightly.

"Not quite."

Taythe turned, and the two Shadowmon that had been standing behind her slumped to the ground. She looked back at the town, an expression of surprise on her face. The Paladin fixed her with a level gaze.

"If you want this town, Taythe, you're welcome to try and take it."

He stepped down from the wall, and as he walked back down the stairs, the people standing on the battlements started to cheer their resistance.

But they were all looking out at the field. None of them saw the look of fatigue that swept across Davis's face like a cloud. No-one except Kari. 

"Davis… c'mon."

"No… I've got stuff to do."

"It can wait."

"No, it can't!" 

She grabbed hold of his arm.

"For chrissakes, Davis, will you listen to me for one goddamn minute? What happens to the city if you're too tired to fight? What then?"

He glared at her. Then he deflated. 

"Fine, I'll just head for my apartment."

"I'll come with you."

"Kari, I don't need…"

"To make sure you don't do something dumb."

====================================================================================

Davis, like most of the people who spent the majority of their time in the digital world, had procured himself and apartment in one of the buildings. It wasn't much different from his one in the real world. It just was slightly less messy. Kari glanced around.

"Honestly Davis, do TRY and create this much mess?" 

He glared at her, and slumped down on the comfy chair. She went over to the sofa, and after clearing a pile of reports and magazine off it, sat down herself. She looked across at him, but the young paladin seemed to be staring into the distance. His face seemed thin and drawn. She decided to go for the honest approach.

"You look like shit, Davis."

"Thankyou, Kari, I needed that boost to my ego right about now."

His eyes were closed. She moved over to his chair, and sat on the floor beside him, her head on his lap. He spoke again.

"I'm scared, Kari."

"Why?"

"Because I don't know if I can do this. All I want to do is have a quiet life – friends, family, football…"

She grinned.

"But ever since I became the Paladin, everyone has expected so much more of me. And I don't know if I can match their expectations."

She looked up at him. 

"Davis, I've known you for a long time. I think you can do anything you set your mind to." 

She gripped his hand.

"You're the strongest person I know, Davis. You're the most honourable, the kindest…"

she knelt up, so that her face was level with his, and his eyes opened to look into hers.

"And I love you. More than anything in this world, or any other. I don't ever want to be anywhere but at your side, fighting, or whatever. Just being with you makes me feel like I can work miracles."

He smiled, that gentle smile that she loved so much.

"I love you to, Kari. More than I can say."

"…Then don't say anything. Everything will be okay, I know it."

As Night threw her shadowy veil across the digital world, two figures held each other close, each drawing strength from the others soul. Each trying to delay the next day, although it must surely arrive.

====================================================================================

Taythe sat amidst her Shadowmon warriors, awaiting the dawn of the next day.

"Mistress."

She glanced up at the Shadowmon that towered over her. it spoke in it's own hissing tongue, and she replied in kind

"Yes? What is it?"

"There is a human here from the town. He says he wishes to speak to you."

Her eyes narrowed, and she looked back at the fire.

"Bring him to me."

She didn't look away from the flames as the Shadowmon hustled the figure towards her, and forced him onto his knees. She didn't even look up as she spoke.

"Give me one reason why I shouldn't kill you."

"Because I can give you the town."

"Of course. But why do you want to?"

The figure was silent, until a Shadowmon hit him roughly around the back of the head.

"Answer her!"

"Because I have no desire to see needless bloodshed, and that is all I can see for the future if we fight. I don't want to see my friends die."

Inwardly, Taythe was fighting the urge to laugh. 

"And so you offer us what we can already achieve?"

"I offer you the way to achieve it with the minimum of violence."

"And what do you want in return?"

"Your solemn promise that you will not allow any of the Digidestined to be harmed. The soldiers will fight you, and they are your meat, but I want the Digidestined to be spared."

"And the Paladin?"

"You've already made clear your intentions in that area." 

"So, the Digidestined for the city? Is that your offer?"

"It is, my Lady."

"… I see no problems in this. What is your plan?"

"There are underground tunnels, of which I'm sure you already know, that lead into Coast Town."

"Yes, but as I already know, they are sealed from the outside." 

"But I know the codes to unlock them. If your Shadowmon can distract the soldiers and the Paladin long enough, I will let you into the city from the tunnels." 

"Then we are agreed. May I know your name?"

The figure stood, and looked down at her.

"Michael. My name is Michael."


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7:

********

Davis hugged Kari close against him. They were still lying in bed, and both of them had cherished the night.

But now, the steel grey tendrils of dawn were slowly creeping over the horizon, and as he glanced out of the window, he could see the first white snowflake start to fall. He just lay there, staring at the grey sky. 

Wishing he could have another hour. An hour he knew he couldn't have.

Next to him, Kari stirred. She looked up at him, a lock of hair falling lightly across her face. He smiled at her as he brushed it gently away.

"What time is it?" she asked.

"About six AM."

"Is that all? Maybe we should go back to sleep."

He smiled again. 

"I wish. Its dawn, Kari. I've got to go."

She punched him gently in the ribs.

"Weren't you listening last night? You cant do everything yourself Davis."

He grinned.

"I know, Kari. But there are some things only I can do." 

"Then I'm coming with you."

"I know you are. How could I stop you?"

=============================================================

(6:00 am)

Liam had not had a comfortable night. He had been sat on the cold walls for over twelve hours now, and then the snow had started. He shivered. He hadn't been this cold since that one night in Armagh, on the run from British soldiers, back when he was still considered to be a terrorist. A hand came down over his shoulder, holding a steaming cup of coffee. After a moment's hesitation, he accepted it.

"Thanks, Mimi."

"You're welcome."

She slumped down next to him, and he took off his blanket, and passed it to her. she cuddled underneath it, her face peeking out over the top.

"So, today's the day."

"Aye. Not much else to do."

Along the walls, he heard yawns as troopers woke up from their nights sleep. There were a thousand things he could probably be doing. Instead, he chose to stay and draw out this conversation.

"You nervous?"

"Oh no. We're facing a huge army of Shadowmon, we're drastically outnumbered, and we're running out of ammo. What have I got to be nervous about?"

"Sarcasm is the lowest form of wit, you know."

She glared at him.

"You, Liam Dillon, are possibly one of the most infuriating men I've ever met."

"Part of me wishes that's the first time someone's said that to me this week."

She kicked him hard from under the blanket. He smiled at her. The he reached down, and lifted his rifle. She looked at the weapon sadly.

"What would you be, if you didn't carry one of those, Liam?"

He looked at her out of the corner of his eyes.

"I don't know. But one things for certain. I'd have cleaner hands than I do now."

He turned to stare at her face, and then he reached behind him, and pulled his silenced Beretta from the holster at the small of his back. Checking the magazine quickly, he flipped the weapon, and held it out to her. 

"Take it."

"Liam, I don't want…"

"I'd feel a lot more comfortable knowin' that you could defend yourself if it came down to it. Now take the gun." 

She hesitated, and then she took the offered weapon.

"Rounds in the breach, safeties off. Just point, shoot, and try not to hit me."

He grinned, and stood, hefting his own weapon onto his shoulder. He checked the scabbard at his belt, making sure his sword was secure there.

"And so begins another day."

Without looking back, he set off along the wall, waking his troops.

=============================================================

(6:30 am.)

Takeru Takaishi, Tasha Konicha, Hikari Kamiya, and Daisuke Motomiya met at the foot of the wall. Their respective Digimon partners were at their sides. Tasha and Kari both carried Rifles and swords, and in the scabbard on his back, Davis had the golden-coloured Katana that marked him as the paladin. TK wore a similar blade; in it's more traditional steel-grey form. Cody was the only other Digidestined who carried a Katana.

"So… here we are." Said TK.

"Where else would we be? It's not as if we've got anything better to do." Tasha admonished. 

"Speak for yourself. I could have been…" Davis started.

"A professional footballer at the age of twenty." TK and Kari said in unison. 

The four friends burst out laughing. It felt good to laugh. Somehow everything seemed more important today. Davis looked around him. Along the walls, people were grinning down at them. Troopers who Davis barely knew were laughing at the four of them. He smiled back at them, and started climbing up the stairs along the walls. Kari and the others stayed where they were. 

"Any activity?" 

"Nothin' above the usual." Liam replied. "You got a plan?"

"Yeah. We blow the living hell out of them."

Liam twisted round to look at him, and then shrugged.

"Ah, it works for me. Any ideas how?" 

"The Barricades."

"You mean those big-arse Highway dividers you imported?"

"Yeah."

=============================================================

(7:00 am)

"I know that you're scared." 

Davis was sat on the edge of the wall, at the part facing inwards, his legs dangling like a kid's. Below him, the courtyard made by the concrete dividers and the buildings was crowded with troopers and Digidestined. The trickle had slowly started but now everyone was there. Tai, Jun, Matt and Sora stood with Kari, TK and Tasha, grinning up at him. He couldn't see the rest of the gang, but her knew they were there. 

"I know you're all scared," he repeated, "and if you're not, you damn well should be. Hell, I know I am!"

Scattered laughter sounded. He smiled at his people.

"I know you're all expecting a big St Crispin's day style speech…"

"WE few, we happy few!" shouted one literary-minded trooper.

"We band of fucked!" shouted a more familiar voice. Davis smiled again.

"Thankyou, Cody, I'll let your mom know the language you use when she's not around."

The laughter was more relaxed this time. Cody blushed furiously. Davis smiled for a few minutes more, and then his face went deadly serious. 

"Like I said, I'm no good at speeches. But I know we can win this. I know that if we stick together, we can do anything. We can fight whatever Taythe throws at us."

He spotted the murmurs of recognition at the name.

"Yeah, I know. She doesn't sound like much, does she? Well, I wont underestimate her, and neither should you. She's powerful. But we can still beat her. There's nothing she can throw at us that we can't push back. Nothing, because we're the ones who have the power here."

He stood, and unconsciously re-arranged the Paladin-blade on his back.

"You know why she's fighting us? Cos she's afraid of us! She knows that we're the only ones who can stop her, so she's gonna try and stop us first! Well, that isn't gonna happen!"

He could feel the determination radiating from the people in the courtyard like a naked flame. He bathed in its warmth, taking strength from it.

"We're gonna fight on! And we're gonna win! We'll make it through today, and this is gonna be a day when we either Win, or do our best until we cant do any more! Today's the day that we take back the digital world from them!"

The entire crowd suddenly erupted in a cheer. Liam stepped up close beside him. 

"Not bad, for a guy who cant do speeches."

"Thanks."

"Bordering on the historic, I'd say. You're never gonna top that one, so I wouldn't even try." 

Davis laughed. Then he smiled at them again. Gently this time. He called out again.

"Not everyone's gonna fight today. I don't want anyone whose Digimon cant digivolve past rookie level fighting." 

There were some shouted complaints.

"I know you want to stay, but I can't lose you. You guys have further to got than the rest of us. If something happens to the rest of us, I need to know that some of us got away. There are boats down in the harbour, ready and waiting for you. You'll be safe there; you'll be able to get away. Sergeants Mills and Haeder?"

The respective commanders of the SAS and GSG-9 teams raised there hands. Davis gestured for them to come up. Then he called for Matt, Tai, Ken, Yolei,  Jun and TK. Kari and Tasha came with them, and even though Davis hadn't asked for them, he welcomed their presence. Liam and Nick Pallet crouched beside him as he unrolled a loosely drawn map.

"Here's the plan. We've got all three exits from the gate barricaded off with those concrete dividers, and behind them is where we're gonna be. We need people on the mounted guns, and we need them rotated to face down into the courtyard."

Pallet nodded.

"I'll get that done in a minute." 

"Nick, Liam. I want each of you to take a team, and have them on opposite sides of the courtyard, on the two exits left and right of the main path area. Mills and Haeder. You're people are going to be at the southern barricade. You're guys'll give covering fire for the Digidestined to get out if necessary."

They nodded. Tai looked at Davis.

"What about us?"

"You, Matt and Sora are with Nick's team. Tasha, you, Yolei and Kari are with the SAS and GSG-9 teams. Me, TK, Ken, and when he gets here, Cody, are with me on Liam's team."

Yolei cast him a suspicious glance.

"Is there any particular reason for these groups, because it seems to me you're putting the ladies as far away from danger as possible."

Davis grinned at her.

"Nothing like that. I just thought it's be best if we were all with our DNA-digivolve partners. And this way we catch them in a neat little crossfire."

Yolei blushed. Everyone else suddenly burst into laughter. Davis looked around at the group. 

"Let's roll. Everybody get organised fast."

They all cleared off, apart from Jun.

"What about me, Davis?" 

"Can you and Mimi organise the withdrawal plans? I was hoping you could set up a medical post somewhere nearby. Mimi's HSC (_health and social care_) licence is still valid, isn't it?"

She nodded. Then he frowned, and gave him a worried glance.

"Are you okay, Davis?"

"I'm fine, Jun. I'll be better once we've won though. C'mon, lets get ready."

=============================================================

(_8:00 am, Eastern Barricade._) 

The Digidestined and soldiers crouched behind the barricades, weapons at the ready. Davis, leaning with his back against one of the large concrete dividers, checked the magazine on his Beretta, making sure it was full. Liam glanced down at him.

"Davis."

"Yeah?"

"I know you're nervous, but that Beretta isn't going to have any more bullets than it did when you last checked it ten minutes ago. Now will you put the bloody thing back in your gun before I shove it up your arse?"

The young Paladin grinned, and slammed the clip back into the butt of his weapon. 

"Liam, how do you think I should ask Kari to marry me?"

"Jesus, lad, don't ask me. I can't even summon up the courage to ask out the lady I like."

=============================================================

(_8:02 am, Western Barricade.)_

Tai sat alongside Matt, his sword on his lap, running a hastily grabbed whetstone along the blade, honing it to razor sharpness.

"I don't know why you bother, these things always blunt out after the first few parries."

The brown haired man glanced at his friend, and shook his head.

"Not this sword. It's never gotten any less sharp, all the time I use it."

"Bullshit." Admonished Sora.

"Nuh-uh. God's own truth, my friend. It's just this sword though, so don't get too excited."

"Asshole."

=============================================================

(_8:00 am, Southern Barricade._)

"So, you actually did it?"

"Yolei! Haven't you got any manners?"

"Nope. Now spill."

Kari glared at her friend. Tasha was also listening intently to the whispered conversation. Everyone was speaking in whispers, the sense of nervous tension having transmitted itself to the entire fighting force. Kari blushed.

"Yeah… me and Davis… spent the night together." 

Yolei grinned.

"About fuckin' time."

"Huh?"

"You two are crazy about each other! Hell, even I can see it!"

"Yeah, you two should have been together long ago." Said Tasha. Kari glared at them both.

"I didn't realize my love-life was under such close scrutiny."

Salamandramon crawled out from around Tasha's neck, her usual lying place.

"Only by these two. they talk about it a lot."

"Hey!"

=============================================================

(_8:05 am, Coast Town city walls._)

Trooper Tim McKesson crept along the city walls, to the gate opening Mechanism. He knew that behind him, he was being covered by the whole of Liam's squad, and the heavy Machine-gun mounted on the city wall. Across the way, he could see his counterpart from Pallet's team doing the same as he was. He crouched, with his hand on the opening button, ready for the signal.

=============================================================

(_8:10 am, Coast Town Medical post._)

Jun and Mimi sat in the medical post, half a mile behind the front line on a slightly raised slope. Apart from the two of them, there were a couple of medics from the troopers, and a few Digidestined who'd volunteered to help out. The brown-haired girl glanced at her friend.

"So, you seen Michael?"

"No, he had somewhere to go last night. I presume he's at the front lines at the moment. He said he'd be back to help us later, after he shut down the comms room."

"You like him, huh?"

"Yeah… I think so…"

=============================================================

(_8:08 am, Communications room._)

Michael hastily switched off the power to the last of the long-range radios. With everyone at the front line, there was no need for them anymore. He licked a button on the comms room computer, and wiped it's hard-drive containing all the radio-encryption codes. Then he turned, and went into the main building's cellar. 

In front of him, there was a huge round metal door, like and airlock, a keypad set into it. He tapped a five-digit code into the panel, and pulled the door slightly ajar. Then he turned, and moving as fast as his legs could take him, headed for the medical station.

=============================================================

(_8:08 am, eastern Barricade._)

Davis drew the Paladin blade from the scabbard on his back, and pushed it loosely into the soft ground at his feet. He looked up at McKesson, crouching on the wall next to the gate, and nodded. 

"Open the gates!"

the trooper nodded, and hit the button, dashing back to the mounted Machinegun. The gates swung open, and there was a huge roar, as the Shadowmon poured into the courtyard. Standing behind Davis, TK looked down at Patomon. 

"Let's rock."

He grabbed his D3, and pressed the activation stud on the side. A pillar of light arose around him and his Digimon, as identical pillar shot up all around the courtyard as a hundred different D3s were activated. Davis grabbed his Katana, and raised it. The Shadowmon were running towards the barriers now, howling their rage at being enclosed.

"FIRE!"

And so the battle for coast town started, as the troopers opened fire, and the Digimon soared into the sky.

=============================================================

(_08:15 am, The Tunnels_.)

In the Darkness of the tunnels, Taythe stepped forward. The tunnel behind her was infested with Shadowmon, moving silently through the dark. The raven-haired woman looked at the door, and noticed the small light pouring from it. 

She laughed softly. So that little fool had actually believed her. She pushed the door, and stepped into the cellar of Coast Town headquarters. The Shadowmon followed her. she glanced back at them, and her mind radiated as she sent the message out to them.

'Remember, I want the Digidestined ALIVE.' 

They growled, but she felt their obedience.

=============================================================

"V-LASER!" 

a blot of energy erupted from ExVeemon's  torso towards the Shadowmon, pounding into the foul creatures from the sky. Arrows scored through the air around him, and he swerved to avoid them, coming suddenly face-to-face with Angewoman. 

"Hi. Come here often."

She grinned at him.

"Give it a rest, we've got work to do." 

Below them, their human partners were embroiled in combat. Davis lunged, driving his blade up to the hilt in a Shadowmon, spinning, and parrying a strike from another of the creatures. He brought his blade low in a cut, cutting the Shadowmon to it's spine. His instincts picked up another presence, and he span, his blade clanging…

Against TK's. the blonde man grinned at him from behind his Katana, and spun around, cutting at their enemies. Back-to-back, the two Digidestined fought. 

Tai and matt were in pretty much the same position. Tai, ducking low, took a blow on his shield, coming up fast, cutting a Shadowmon from the groin upwards. Matt glanced over his shoulder, taking a quick breather in the first free moment he'd had.

"Wow. Bet that hurt."

"No shit."

And then they were cutting and stabbing again. 

Liam fired two rounds from his rifle, bursting one of the foul creature's skulls. Around him lay a dozen of the creatures, and a few of his troopers as well. One of them lunged at him, and he fell back, pulling the trigger on his gun. No rounds emerged however, and he didn't have the time to change magazine now. He slammed the barrel forward, winding the creature, and then he pulled back, reversed the gun, and slammed its butt onto the Shadowmon's neck. There was a sickening snapping sound, and he turned, dropping the gun and drawing his sword in one smooth movement. He glanced up, as the Digimon fired bursts of destructive energy out onto the meadow. 

Kari brought her blade in a curve, neatly cutting the head off of her enemy. She spun around, but all of a sudden, there were no more Shadowmon around her. Yolei casually finished off the one at her feet, and looked up at her friend. Then she too looked round curiously. 

"Where the hell have they all gone?" 

A huge explosion echoed in the suddenly still air. From inside the city. Davis spun, seeing the plume of fire and smoke leap up from the headquarters building. 

"OH my god…" 

TK stood next to him. Seeing the same thing, Kari ran up to them, in the middle of the courtyard. Davis was staring at the smoke. 

"They're inside! THE BASTARDS ARE INSIDE!!!"

And then everyone was running towards the docks.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8:

********

The Digidestined ran through the suddenly smoke filled streets of Coast town, and Davis's heart was sinking with every step he took. 

How could the Shadowmon have got inside? It was impossible! All of the entrances had been sealed off…

His thought train suddenly derailed. 

Oh no… not the tunnels… they CANT have gotten in through the tunnels!

But in his heart he knew that was precisely what had happened. He knew that the rabbit-warren of tunnels underneath the Digi-world must have been the Shadowmon's entrance to the city. He turned to his people. 

"Kari, TK, Sora, Tasha, Matt, Tai, come with me. The rest of you get to the boats. Get out of here while you still can. I'm gonna help the people at the medical post."

Liam Dillon, Nick Pallet, and a few of the troopers detached themselves from the crowd. They hefted their weapons, slapping fresh magazines into their slots.

"You're gonna need help, whatever you're doing. We're coming with ya."

"Liam…"

"Shut it, Davis."

The big Irishman looked around at his troopers. 

"Bring only weapons and ammunition. If the rest of you guys can spare some rounds, hand them over."

The troopers helping the Digidestined to the docks tossed some magazines to the small platoon. The group slung their shields on their backs, and sheathed their swords. Davis nodded.

"Lets go. I don't know how much time we have."

The small group detached itself, running for Jun and Mimi's last position. Their Digimon landed beside them, their energy expended, and yet they ran with the rest, trying to salvage what they could from the day.

=============================================================

Doctor Jun Motomiya bent over a young trooper, and plunged one of the Morphine Syrettes that all of them carried into his arm. She watched him carefully for a few more minutes, noting the change in his pulse rate and breathing. At this rate, there was nothing more she could do for the guy. She turned away.

"Mimi!"

The pink-haired woman ran up to her. 

"Give me a hand getting them onto the stretchers. Michael's warming up the ambulance to get them down to the docks."

Mimi nodded, and took hold of the troopers legs, helping her friend lift him onto the stretcher. Together, they carried the young man to the waiting ambulance. Michael called down from the drivers seat.

"How many more?"

"Just the one!" Mimi shouted back. She looked down at Palmon. 

"You think you're up to digivolving?"

The little plant-Digimon smiled impishly.

"Ask a stupid question, Mimi." 

"Okay, ready?"

She pulled her D3 from her belt, and pressed the activation stud. Bright light surrounded Palmon's form, and she started to grow.

"PALMON DIGIVOLVE TO – TOGEMON!!!"

And then there was a huge cactus towering over the two friends. Jun looked up at her. 

"You know… I have NEVER understood why it takes that form."

"I don't think that now is the time to ask, Jun. Lets go."

Jun shrugged, and grabbed her bag. Moving quickly, she threw a few casualty packs into it, and hopped into the back of the ambulance. She grabbed hold of the shotgun that she had taken to keeping just inside the door, and braced herself against the seat behind her and the walls beside her. She banged her fist against the wall. 

"LETS GO!"

The ambulance surged forward, Togemon running alongside. Michael steered through the abandoned streets, the screaming and howling of the Shadowmon always at the edge of his hearing.

'This is my fault…'

He shook the thought away, concentrating on his driving. Suddenly he slammed on the brakes. Mimi, who had been digging in the glove box, looked up at him.

"What are you doing? Keep going!"

he continued to stare through the windscreen.

"That might be a little difficult, Mimi…"

she looked out of the front window, and silently drew the Beretta Liam had given her from her waistband. 

The street was swarming with Shadowmon. They stood there, in silent ranks, shields and swords ready. There was no rush, no sudden charge of blades and claws. They were just standing there.

"Reverse… slowly." Said Mimi.

"You don't have to tell me twice." Michael replied, gently putting the ambulance into reverse, and pushing down lightly on the accelerator.

The ambulance slowly crept backwards, as Togemon covered their progress. Jun swung around on the rear footboard, sighting her shotgun one handed at the Shadowmon. She used her free hand to pull lose her doctors coat, revealing a black jumpsuit underneath.

"Uh, guys. I hate to be the one to mention it, but we don't actually have that much gas in this thing." 

"No shit. Any other stunning observations?" snarled Michael.

A Shadowmon stepped forward from the crowd. When it spoke, Jun found that she could understand it perfectly. 

"They are Digidestined! The Lady Taythe wants them alive! SEIZE THEM!"

They started to rush forward, and Jun pulled the trigger on the shotgun. The blast was inaccurate, but with a shotgun, you don't need to be that accurate. Several of the Shadowmon went down, and the rest paused, as Togemon aimed at them, needles on her gloved arms, growing in preparation to scythe at the hoard. But the creatures snarled, and this time, they didn't advance slowly. They broke into a mad, howling run.

Michael slammed his foot down on the accelerator, sending the truck careening backwards past Togemon. But then yet another disaster played against the group of Digidestined. The rear tyre on the ambulance burst without warning, sending the vehicle into a screeching turn, spinning madly out of control. The front of the ambulance slammed against a wall, coming to a halt. Jun found herself facing the hoard alone. She turned, and pulled herself up onto the roof of the ambulance, as Togemon battled alone against the insurmountable odds. 

The huge cactus-Digimon was slowly but inexorably being forced into a retreat, moving backwards in the face of the Shadowmon onslaught. One of the creatures leapt at her, clawing for her small eyes. She slammed her huge gloved fist out, sending the foul beast sailing headfirst into the wall.  But still, step-by-step, she was moving backwards. They leapt at her, slashing with blades and teeth. Togemon raised her arms, and sent blasts of needles out, neatly stapling her enemies to the walls. 

But there were too many of them. Howling their triumph, the Shadowmon piled on top of the huge Cactus-Digimon, even as she tried to batter them away. One of them raised it's sword high above it's head…

A beam of pure light, accompanied by a vaguely human looking figure, slashed through the morning light, snow sizzling as it evaporated against the blade of the Paladin-sword. The Shadowmon with the raised sword toppled silently to the right, as it's head and the better part of its neck toppled in the opposite direction. Black blood sprayed onto the pure white canvas of the snow, like some demonic painting. 

Daisuke Motomiya, his eyes glowing with inner power, landed softly in front of Togemon, as the Cactus from dissolved into the smaller shape of Palmon, her energy reserves depleted. The few Shadowmon that had been standing on her back lunged at Davis. 

Faster than seemed possible, his arm shipped around, neatly cutting another one of the malformed spectres heads from its shoulders. Without even looking, he spun the blade in his hand, and lunged backwards, under his left arm. The Shadowmon that had been driving down onto his back neatly impaled itself on the glowing golden metal. He let go of the swords hilt, and as the Shadowmon charged, pulled his twin Berettas from their holsters. The Rest of the Digidestined charged from the entrance to the street behind him. He raised the guns in his hands, and fired, sending a stream of leaden death blasting out at the creatures. 

"Liam, Help Mimi and the others!" he yelled.

The big Irishman nodded, and picking up Palmon unceremoniously, he ran towards the ambulance. 

"Are you okay?" he asked through the window.

"We'll live! Get us out of here!" 

Liam nodded, and drew his sword. He swung the blade once, neatly slicing off the door handle. He kicked the rest in, and pulled open the ambulance door. 

"C'mon, lets go!" 

Mimi turned back to the rear of the ambulance.

"Help me with the wounded!" 

Liam started towards the doors, and then he noticed the stream of gasoline running from underneath the vehicle, towards the Shadowmon, just as Veemon launched a fireball. The flame raced along the path the gas had created for it, as the Liam, Mimi and Michael dived out of the way, and the truck fireballed, bright flames arcing into the snow.

The snow-strewn street echoed with the group's rifle fire, punctuated by the individual shots of Davis's handguns, and the resounding boom of Jun's shotgun. The Digimon were too wiped out to fight, their energy expended in the earlier battle. All except Veemon. The small blue Digimon seemed to be drawing his strength directly from Davis, blasting fireballs at all he could see. Kari watched them both as she fired her rifle. 

Despite the days defeat, Davis was fighting on. The guns in his hands bucked, spewing acrid smoke, and through the snowy air, she could see the light radiating from his soul. He was a focus for all their potential, turning it into a narrow beam that he blasted against their enemies.

He burned bright. But it wasn't enough. She called to him.

"Davis! There's too many of them!"

He seemed not to hear her, and when she saw his face as he gunned down the Shadowmon, she saw it contorting in rage, twisting with hatred. As he pulled the triggers faster, barely stopping to reload, his mouth opened, a roar of anger and hate erupting from his lungs. Tai rushed past her.

"Assholes gonna get himself killed…"

At that precise moment, Davis's bullets ran out. Without even stopping, he holstered his guns in one smooth motion, and spinning, pulled the golden-coloured katana from the body of the impaled Shadowmon. He charged at them, a one-man killing machine, and no thoughts in his brain but cutting down these hateful creatures. Tai grabbed hold of his arm before he got more than five paces. Davis spun, raising the golden blade above his head. Tai punched him in the jaw, knocking him to the ground. The young paladin stared up at him, incredulously.

"Get a grip on yourself, Motomiya! We can't fight here!" 

"Jesus, look at them!" yelled Sora, aiming her rifle at the horde of Shadowmon. The creatures were staring at Davis, and making no move forward. If anything, they moved further back.

Daisuke Motomiya, himself again held out a hand. Tai hauled him to his feet as Kari and Jun ran to them. 

"Are you okay, Davis?"

"I'm fine, Kari. I just let it get to my head." He grinned, and then glanced at the wary Shadowmon. "Lets get out of here. They wont stay like that for much longer."

The group back off slowly, into the alley from which they had emerged. Then they turned and ran, as the Shadowmon burst after them. Nick was in the lead, dodging around corners, hardly looking back to make sure they were still with him. Finally, he turned round the last turn in the Alley, the howls of the Shadowmon loud in their ears, onto the high street that ran across the length of the city. The trooper stopped, and stared down at the docks as the others caught up with him. Matt came last.

"I think we've lost them."

No one replied.

"What's wrong?"

Belatedly, he followed their gaze, looking down at the boats. They were steaming away, moving towards the horizon. The docks were thick with the black shapes of the Shadowmon. Sora groaned.

"Oh no… how are we gonna get out now?"

Davis didn't turn as he stared at the ships. 

"There's only one way. We have to go through the tunnels."

He looked round, and pointed to a building.

"There's an entrance in there. C'mon."

He headed for the doors.

"PALADIN!"

The small group on the street spun, and looked up. Taythe stood on the roof of one of the taller buildings, her longsword in her hand. She looked down at them, her eyes burning with malignant fury. Her long black hair spun in the snowstorm, whipping like the heads of a hydra.

"You thought you could resist me Paladin. You thought you could win, and rule this world. You were wrong! This is my world now, Paladin!"

She raised her hand, revealing a D3, pointing it to the skies.

"AND NOW, YOU SHALL SEE MY POWER!"

With those words, energy lanced up at the sky, arcing into the snow-filled morning, splitting like the branches of some unearthly tree, lancing out in twelve different directions. When Davis saw that energy, he knew precisely what was coming.

"Davis? What's going on?" Kari said.

He closed his eyes, and spoke quietly, but loud enough for all of the Digidestined to hear him.

"She's summoning the twelve dragons. The twelve dragons of the old world, the origins of the crests."

His eyes opened, and he looked up at the shapes that were forming in the sky. From the energy, heads were forming, tails, scaled hides, the size of buildings. The dragons swooped through the sky, their roars shaking the very earth beneath the digidestined's feet. He looked up at them.

"We can't fight them. RUN!"

He turned, and kicked open the buildings door, unceremoniously pushing Kari through, all the time staring at the twelve huge Digimon that filled the sky with their presence. The rest needed no help. They ran through the door and down into the basement, where the sealed tunnel waited for them. Liam hastily punched in the code, turning the heavy handle, pulling open the big door.

"Get inside, quick!" he yelled. 

Davis was the last down the stairs, and he glanced once more through the open door to the street. He saw the dragons rear, energy drawing to their mouths. He turned, and dived through the tunnel door, as the blasts slammed into the building around him, pummelling it to the ground. 

The darkness surrounded them, cloying and dank. The air reeked with the smell of Shadowmon. Davis drew his Katana once more, and the golden light cast around the tunnel. He looked down at the ground. Then he pulled a penknife from his pocket, and flipped open the blade. He knelt by the pile of rocks that had been the building above them, and that now sealed the way out. Placing the blade of his knife on his hand, he closed his fist and squeezed. 

"All of you see this. I swear by my own blood that the people who died today will be avenged. I swear that we will take back the digital world."

He turned his fist upright, and a few drops of blood dripped from between his fingers onto the rocks. He pulled a bandage from his pocket, and wrapped it around his palm. Then he turned, and smiled at them grimly.

"C'mon. We've got a long, dark road ahead of us."

And he set off down the tunnel, Kari close beside him, the light from his sword showing the way.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9:

********

The tunnels closed I around them claustrophobically, a lightless cage hemming them below the ground. The silence was deafening, the atmosphere of defeat pushing everyone into cloying quietness. Suddenly they halted.

"Davis? What's wrong?" Kari said. 

They were standing at a junction. Three tunnels led away into the darkness. Davis looked from one to the other, and a slight feeling of panic arose in his guts.

"I don't know which way to go."

Liam stepped forward, and knelt. He called Pallet over, and peered at the rocky ground.

"Shadowmon have been this way." The Londoner said.

"How do you know?" TK asked.

Liam pointed to a series of scratches on the ground.

"They sling their swords low on their waists. The blades have scratched the ground as they go past." 

He used his flashlight to follow the scratches.

"They went down the left tunnel. I say we go another way." 

Davis nodded. The light from the paladin-blade shone bright in the tunnel as they moved. DemiVeemon hopped up onto his shoulder, his eyes shining. The young Paladin looked down at his watch. 

"We'll start out again tomorrow. It's late, and we're all tired after today."

Liam didn't look happy.

"I don't like it Davis. The Shadowmon obviously come this way…"

"They don't need to use the tunnels anymore, Liam. They've got the surface now."

The big Irishman's expression didn't change, but he nodded anyway, and slung his pack onto the ground. He slumped against the wall, and closed his eyes slightly.

"I'm getting to old for this shit." He moaned.

"Yeah, cos you're so old, Boss." Nick said as he slumped next to his friend. 

"Oh, shut up, you English bastard."

Before long, using the small fuel pouches the troopers carried with them, a small campfire was burning brightly in the small chamber. They all sat around it, savouring the warmth. 

Davis sat a little way apart from the rest, gently running his finger along his Katanas razor edge. Veemon and Gatomon lay curled on the floor at his feet, exhausted, and Kari leant against him, her head on his shoulder.

"You couldn't have done any more than you did, Davis."

"Yes I could, Kari. I could have stopped them. We were so close."

"We all tried our best, Davis. If this happened, then maybe it was meant to. Maybe we weren't meant to win today."

"Huh?" 

"Maybe this is fate."

"You know, that sounds scarily like something Gennai would say."

"Hey!" she punched him gently in the ribs, and for the first time since that morning, he smiled at her.

"I love you, Kari."

"I love you too, Davis."

Across the fireplace, TK and Tasha were also sitting together.

"Well, that didn't go entirely as planned."

"How clever of you to notice." Tasha replied.

"Remind me why I put up with this abuse?"

"Cos you love me so much."

"Ah. That must be it. Why else would I do this?"

She laughed gently, and slipped her hand into his.

"Remember what I asked you, TK. If anything happens to me…"

"It's not going to, Tasha."

"You don't know that. If something does happen to me… I want you to know that I love you, TK."

"I know, Tasha. I know."

Jun looked down at the sleeping Tai, and smiled gently. Even after all this time, he still looked so handsome to her. She didn't care what else was going on around her, provided she could be by his side. 

"It never stops, does it?"

She glanced up at Sora, beside whom Matt was also fitfully dozing.

"I don't think so. No matter what happens, there's always gonna be a battle to fight. And I will stand by Davis to the bitter end. He's my brother."

Sora smiled.

"So will the rest of us, Jun. That's what family does."

The young doctor smiled back.

"You know, you're right. Even though I don't have a Digimon, everyone treats me like a Digidestined."

"The adoption papers are in the post."

Sora glanced down at Matt one last time, and then gently moved over to sit behind Jun. She stared at Davis for a moment. 

"Why is he so scared, Jun? Why is he so afraid of not being enough?"

Jun looked down at the fire. 

"It's the thought of his Legacy. He's the Paladin, the direct descendant of Ichiro Motomiya. He thinks that he has to prove himself worthy of that. Most of all, though, I think he fears becoming like Paul. Giving in to the shadows, and being manipulated."

"He's not Paul. He never could be. Davis is so straight they could use him as a test standard for pool-cues."

Jun laughed softly. 

"Yeah. But that doesn't stop him being afraid."

All the time, whilst the rest of the group talked softly, Michael sat staring into the flames. Even Mimi had given up trying to get his attention. The guilt was tearing him apart. He closed his eyes, to stop the bitter tears spilling out.

=============================================================

He was back in Armagh, the MP5 in his hands, and the berretta in its holster at the small of his back. He held the submachinegun in both hands, extending it around the corner into the courtyard. He knew that the terrorists were in there. He pulled the trigger, spraying the courtyard with ammunition. The slight tinkle of the empty shell casings hitting the ground sounded like coins, as the flash from the muzzle lit up the rain-filled night. he lowered the weapon to hip height, and stepped round the corner, the SMGs barrel sweeping the expanse of the concrete yard. He activated his night-vision goggles. 

_There were bodies there, dressed in the ski masks of the remaining terrorist cells of Northern Ireland. He swiftly changes the magazine on his gun, and moved forward. _

_"Not bad shooting, Liam."_

_He glanced at McKane. Dead McKane, gone McKane. His friend nodded at him, and hefted his own SMG. _

_"Look out!"_

_Liam span, and fired a three round burst at the figure who had loomed out of the shadows. He saw the rounds hit home, and the figures hair span out behind her. Pink hair, with a couple of stars placed in it. Mimi's hair._

_He had dropped the gun, dived, and caught her before she even hit the ground. His eyes brimmed with tears of horror at what he had done. He tentatively brushed a stray strand of hair away from Mimi's cold, still face, and bowed his head. _

_"Jesus…"_

_"After all you've seen, you still believe in Him?"_

The Irishman looked up, into the Barrel of Tetsuo McKane's MP5. The Air burned a bright white as the gun fired…

=============================================================

He woke with a start. The fire was slowly burning still, and he put an extra fuel pack onto it. Liam shook off the last vestiges of the nightmare, and looked at his watch, only to find that the face was cracked and the hands were no longer turning.

"Ah, Bollocks."

He blinked, and stretched, careful not to kick the sleeping Pallet. He reached into his bag, and pulled out a radio. The rock in this area was fairly Porous, but his signal, though weak, might get through. He flicked to the first channel setting the Digi-world troopers used.

"Knight one to all knights, come back?"

Static was his only answer. He flicked through the channels, using the same callsign each time. Nothing.

That meant his people had either lost their radios, or…

He didn't dwell on the thought, but instead settled his head back against the cave wall. His mind, left to it's own devices; started to break out of the confines he put on it. 

How had the Shadowmon got into the city? They had to have come through the tunnels, but he had personally sealed off all the entrances. Hell, the only people who knew the codes were in this room now…

He stopped. 

No… it couldn't… they couldn't have…

He gently got up, stepped past the sleepers on the floor, and crouched by Davis. He gently shook the young Paladins shoulder. Davis woke with a start, his hand flashing out, and the knife in it coming to a halt just before Liam's stomach.

"Watch where you're bloody sticking that thing."

"What's wrong, Liam?"

"Follow me."

He stood, and quietly moved over to the side corridor, just out of view of the fire, but with still enough light from its reflection on the walls to see each other's outlines. 

"You mind explaining what you've disturbed my beauty sleep for?"

"How many people knew the codes to the tunnel doors, Davis?"

The big Irishman saw the silhouette shrug slightly.

"Everyone in the chamber back there. Cody and Ken too."

"hmm."

"You're going down that road of thought too, huh?"

"What road of thought?"

"The one that ends with us deciding which one of those people let the Shadowmon into the city."

"I've already decided. The only three wild-cards are Tasha, Michael and Nick. Tasha was with Kari and Yolei after I sealed the doors, Nick was on the walls the whole time, with me."

"Liam…"

"What?"

"Are you sure you're not letting personal feelings get in the way here?"

Davis didn't see, so much as feel the big Irishman's eyes narrow.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I know you like Mimi. Me and Ken figured it out, so is this a personal Vendetta here?"

"Davis, whatever my personal feelings towards Mimi are, right now they're playing second fiddle to finding out why the hell we lost the battle. I lost a lot of friends, and a lot of good men today."

"They were soldiers, Liam…"

"And they knew the risks. But we would have won out there today if they hadn't gotten inside, and I want to know why." 

They quickly went back into the main chamber, and set about waking everyone up. Michael moved last, getting groggily to his feet. He found Liam standing opposite him. Davis stood at the front of the junction.

"It appears that we have a traitor in our midst."

Most of the Digidestined stared at their friend incredulously, but Liam had been looking at Michael. The blonde mans eyes flickered towards the tunnels, and he started towards them. He looked back at the Irishman. Liam's eyes were boring into his, and cold, barely contained anger burned behind his eyes. Michael stopped moving.

Davis turned to stare at Michael, his eyes not full of hatred, as the blonde man had a right to expect, but full of pity and sadness. 

"What did they offer you, Michael?"

"What the hell?" Mimi spoke up for the first time since "Where the fuck do you get off accusing him, Davis?!? He's saved our lives more than once!"

Palmon stepped out in front of the pair, her vine-like tentacles ready to spring. Michael put a hand on Mimi's shoulder.

"Get out of the way, Mimi."

"But…"

"Do as I say!"

Numbness spread over Mimi's body. She looked up at him incredulously.

"Michael… you did, didn't you? You let the Shadowmon in…"

"Mimi…"

She stepped away from him. Palmon's vines gently withdrew into stubby fingers. Davis looked at the blonde man again. TK, unnoticed, slipped towards the junction tunnel. Nick Pallet slipped towards the other, and Jun took the third, her shotgun held loosely in her hand.

"Why did you do it, Michael? What was the deal?"

"They said… that they would spare the Digidestined. The Digidestined could go free, provided I gave her the city."

"Taythe?"

Michael nodded. Liam took his turn.

"And what about my men, Michael? What about them?"

The blonde man said nothing. He merely shook his head slightly. Stepped back, making a visible effort to calm himself down. For a few seconds, no one spoke.

"And what about Davis?" asked Kari.

The young Paladin snapped his head round to look at her. 

"That doesn't matter, Kari."

"It does to me! What about Davis, Michael?!?"

"The paladin was to die in the city. He was the only Digidestined who would not be set free. She said you were too much of a threat."

Michael didn't have time to say any more, as Liam's right fist slammed into his jaw.

"BASTARD!!!"

The blonde boy made it to his feet in time to block the next punch.

"DO YOU KNOW HOW MANY MEN I LOST TODAY!?? HOW MANY DIED TO MAKE SURE YOUR LYING ARSE SURVIVED?"

Liam's left fist slammed into Michael's belly, doubling the younger man over. Instead of staying down, the blonde rose into an uppercut, sending Liam reeling back. 

"IT WASN'T MEANT TO BE THIS WAY! I JUST WANTED A CHANCE OF SURVIVING! FOR ALL OF US!"

The big Irishman started forward again, fist raised, but Davis dived in between the pair of them.

"That's enough, Liam!"

"This bastard sold us all out, Davis. He sold us to die, so he could escape!"

"We don't need this right now! We don't have the time for this! If we're gonna make it out of this alive, we have to stick together!"

Liam closed his eyes. When he opened them again, they were calm. But the hint of fury behind them made Davis grip his friends arm even harder.

"If he comes near me, or if he tries anything, I'll kill him myself, you understand me, Davis? This little bastard sold us all to die, and I, for one, am not gonna forgive him."

The Digidestined picked up their packs, and walked away into the tunnels, in silence.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10:

*********

The caves dripped with water. Davis could hear it, and the small sound gave him hope. Water meant life, and it was so hard to believe that life could exist in this barren, lightless world. 

They were moving in silence. Not out of any pretence of stealth, but because the events earlier in the day had taken away any of their desire to talk. Liam stalked at the head of the group, next to Davis. The young Paladin didn't want his friend anywhere he could get at Michael. He too felt betrayed, but they needed all the people they could get. He had been too tempted to allow Liam to finish the job on Michael, but there was no way he was going to allow his friend to kill the younger man. He didn't want to be in that situation again, and he couldn't afford the time.

The paladin blade felt reassuringly heavy in his hands. The golden bladed Katana shone in the darkness, illuminating the bare walls of the tunnels. He looked up. They were in a high domed chamber, natural arcades running around its walls. The paladin-blades light shone out, revealing the high walls. A huge shining pillar hung down to the centre of the room, the biggest stalagmite the Digidestined had ever seen.

"What is this place?" TK gasped, more to himself than to the room in general.

"It looks like it contained something…" Tasha said.

"What's that smell?" said Sora.

Davis sniffed the air. Sora was right; the place had a definite odour. Kind of… sulphuric. He shook his head.

"We don't have the time to get distracted. Does anyone see an exit?"

Veemon, by his feet, looked up at the high ceiling.

"I cant see anything from here, and I don't have the energy to digivolve."

Kari glanced up as well.

"Maybe we should check that pillar. There might be something useful there."

Davis looked at the tall stalagmite. For some reason, a small voice whispered in his mind.

"No. Lets look for another way."

Liam gave him a look.

"May I ask why?"

"I've got a bad feeling, that's all."

Liam stared at him for a second, then shrugged. 

"Whatever you say, boss."

Davis grinned at him.

"Spread out. Stay in twos. Matt, you go with Michael."

The older blonde man nodded, and moved over to Michael's side. Matt's face was neutral. For Matt that was the closest expression of anger he could summon. No-one had spoken to Michael since the confrontation that morning.  He sat on his own, away from the rest, as if he knew the extent of his own betrayal. Davis glanced at TK. 

"C'mon."

The blonde nodded, and followed him, arranging his own Katana over his back. The plain, unadorned steel blade glinted dully in the light from its golden counterpart. Davis nodded, and the pair headed off along the lower arcade. Circling the chambers several times, they finally came out looking down over the chamber. Davis waved down at them.

"You found anything?" he called.

"There's one big exit! I think it leads to the surface, there's light coming out." Tai yelled up at him.

"Erm, Davis?" TK whispered.

"In a minute." He said, "We'll head out that way!"

"Davis!" It was a hiss this time, and Davis glared sharply at his friend. TK however was staring behind them.

Davis slowly turned. Patomon was hovering in the air, and Veemon swiftly leapt to stand beside his friend.

It was a dark figure, cloaked, and in its hands was a huge double-bladed sword-staff. The point rested on the ground as the figure reached up and pulled back it's hood. Davis gasped, the sound echoed by TK's own exclamation of surprise.

The figures eyes, ears and mouth had been sewn shut. Suddenly the figure lashed forward, the twin blades of its staff lashing out at them. The two Digidestined dived to their sides, and came up rolling. As one, they pulled their Katanas from their scabbards. The cowled creature gripped its staff in both hands, as they lunged forward.

=============================================================

The clang of metal on metal echoed throughout the chamber and Liam Dillon spun, pulling his sword from its scabbard in one quick movement.

"What's happening?" he called.

His only response was the clash of the swords in the high gallery above him. 

"Everyone get back into this middle area!" he yelled. 

The Digidestined charged back, and stood back to back in the middle of the natural arena. Swords were drawn, and the Digimon lined up in front of their human partners as more cloaked figures came from the side tunnels.

Tai glanced round at his friends.

"Well… this is fun…"

=============================================================

The cloaked figure whirled as TK's Katana sliced through the air with lightning speed, and neatly parried the vicious cut with the metal shaft of his sword-staff. He twisted, and the twin blade whirled past as TK moved back just fast enough to avoid begin disembowelled by the swift blade.

"Who the hell is this guy?!?" he yelled.

"DO I look as if I know?" snarled Davis.

The Paladins golden-coloured sword whipped up low from the ground, flashing towards the figure's chin. The tip of the sword staff knocked the blow away, and Davis rolled as the blade hissed through the air where his neck had previously been. He came up standing beside his friend. 

"BUBBLE BLAST!" yelled Patomon, a globe of coloured energy escaping his mouth, and hurtling towards the tall swordsman.

The twin blades whirled, and the blast struck the flat of one of the sword ends of the staff. The ball of energy went spinning off into the cavern to blast dirt and rock out of the ceiling. 

"VEE-HEADBUTT!" came Veemon's battle cry, as he launched himself at the figure. The swordsman merely stepped neatly aside, and Veemon's own momentum carried him neatly past the cloaked being, into the hard rock wall.

"Ouch…" the small Digimon moaned, before passing out.

Davis glanced at TK.

"We go from either side. You take the right."

"He's stronger on the left…"

"That's why you're taking the right, hat-boy."

"Jerk." 

The two split apart as the figure lunged at them again, his momentum carrying him past them, into the middle of their pincer movement. For a moment, the man seemed confused, unsure where they were. Davis slashed low at the back of his knees, aiming to hamstring the swordsman. A quick backswing of the sword-staff deflected his blade however, and the fight restarted in earnest as TK slashed at the junction of hood and robe, a brutally decapitating blow. Again the cut was parried, TK's blade skittering wildly into the air as he struggled to keep out of the way of the swordsman's slash.

He wasn't quite fast enough, however, as a thin line of blood suddenly appeared on his shirt as the blade cut a neat slash across his chest.

"Told'ya you should have worn armour." Davis smirked.

TK fell back, clutching momentarily at his chest. The wound wasn't deep, but it hurt like hell, and he needed to get time to concentrate. The swordsman, sensing that TK had been temporarily subdued, turned back to Davis. The young Paladin brought the flat of his katana up to his face, and strangely, the figure did the same with one end of his sword-staff.

Davis lunged, making no pretence at defence, seeking only to stop this strangely deformed creature who had attacked him. The Paladin blade lashed quickly in a series of quick cuts, slicing in controlled movements at the figures chest and head. Davis fought with the edge of his blade, the razor sharp edge of the katana that could cut easily through flesh and bone. The katana is not a weapon built for stabbing – fighting with a samurai sword relies on speed and skill to achieve the result in the quickest possible time. Davis's two-handed cuts were not meant to be parried, they were meant to kill.

That ended when the top edge of the double-blade neatly parried the golden-katana, and the lower, leading edge hooked around the back of Davis's leg, pulling him off balance, and sending him crashing to the ground. 

The swordsman whirled the blades above his head, and the point of the lower end came slicing down through the air. Davis rolled…

As the point of the sword-staff neatly lodged itself in the rock beside his head. He came up to his feet, and swept his sword in a wide cut, aimed not at the swordsman, but at the welded central part of his blades. His aim was true, and the Katanas edge neatly sliced through the shaft of the sword-staff. He launched his leg forward in a kick sending the figure back at the same moment the wounded TK came to his feet.

The swordsman stood stock-still. At the back of his neck, TK's blade was pressed neatly against his pale white flesh. At the front, Davis's blade ran across his throat in the opposite direction. Both blades felt as if the pressure could be increased pretty much indefinitely. 

"What kept you?" asked Davis.

"Well, you looked like you were having so much fun…"

Davis grinned, and glanced at Veemon, who was regaining consciousness. 

  
"You okay, buddy?"

"I'm good, I'm good! Lemme at him!"

The small Digimon turned, and saw them. He had the dignity to look momentarily crestfallen.

"Oh. You've got him."

Patomon winged back over the edge of the arcade.

"More of those things have got the rest of the guys!" the small flyer-Digimon said.

Davis looked at the captured warrior.

"I know you can understand me. Call them off, and tell us why you attacked us."

The figures blind eyes turned towards him, and the words formed in his brain without going through the messy process of involving his ears first.

"_They have been called back. We were merely defending ourselves._"

"Yeah, cos attacking us first is defending yourselves."

"_You trespassed here. No one has trespassed on this place in almost five hundred years._"

"What is this place?" TK asked.

"_This is the forge. Please accompany us."_

"Why should we?"

"_Because the master does not like to be kept waiting._"

=============================================================

The group was led through the tunnels by the strange tall figures, their black cloak swathed around them like opaque clouds. Davis lost track of his bearings in the extreme amount of twists and turns the rock caverns around them took. He started to become convinced that the hooded warriors were doing it deliberately, to throw them off.

"_Correct, Paladin._" Came the reply.

"_Stay the hell out of my head._" Davis snarled back at them. He might have imagined it, but he swore that he saw one of the warriors flinch.

"_There is no need to shout, Paladin._"

The tunnel widened up, and the Digidestined beheld the sight before them. Gentle light shone from the roof, although Davis couldn't see the source. The dull glow surrounded them, and the low, domed houses that sat in the cavern. 

"Do you all live down here?" Kari asked.

"_Where else do you think we would live?_"

"Who ARE you?" Davis asked for the second time that day.

There was a momentary pause, before the thought once again formed itself in his mind.

"_…Come. The master awaits._"

They were escorted through lush underground vegetation towards a slightly larger house at the far end of the cavern. As they walked past, the caves inhabitants turned to look at them. Strangely, they didn't seem the least perturbed over these heavily armed strangers being escorted through their midst. It was Sora who picked up on it first.

"Why are your eyes and ears sealed, and theirs not?"

"_Because we are the guardians, sworn with protecting the forger from any… outside influences._"

Kari poked Davis in the side.

"He means you."

"And you."

Liam reached out towards one of the plants, and gently touched it's flowers.

"What are these plants?"

"_We call them Arra's rose."_

"May I…?"

Liam left the question framed in the air.

"_Of course. They are a legacy of the Paladin, and as his companion, you are welcome to that legacy._"

"What do you mean by that?" Tasha asked.

Davis looked at their captors – although it was difficult to think of them that way – and acknowledged his own confusion.

"_They are named for the woman whom the first Paladin married. They bloom only in these caves._ _They have… strange properties._"

Liam gently plucked one of the flowers from its stalk, and sniffed it. Almost instantly, his mind flew back to the countryside of Ireland, the sights and sounds of Galway, his home county. When he had been fighting in Northern Ireland, he had gradually developed a Belfast accent, but Galway was the place that always reminded him of home.

He drew away. 

"That's… amazing."

"_They have earned the nickname of 'Memory flower.'"_

"I can see why."

He passed the flower to Mimi, almost shyly, and she gave him a slight smile, coming out of her misery momentarily at Michael's betrayal. She sniffed the flower, and her eyes closed. When she opened them, she fixed the big Irishman with a real smile, not a caricature. Liam blushed slightly, a comical sight on an Irishman who at times seems the size of a house, and turned back towards the village. They followed the Guardians in between the rows of houses, and finally reached the Master's house. The guardians stopped and gestured for them to enter.

"_The Master awaits you._"

Davis nodded, and the group moved quietly through the door. Inside, they found a small man facing out of the windows, away from them. 

"Greetings, Daisuke Motomiya."

"Do I know you, Sir?" Davis answered politely.

The man turned towards them, and a warm smile, a trace of irony in its curl faced them, surmounted by a slightly furrowed brow above deep grey eyes.

"No… you don't know me. But I've been waiting for you for a very long time."


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11:

*********

Liam stood on the balcony of the Master's house, looking down onto the subterranean village. In his hand he held a tall glass of some unknown liquid, but like everything else in this place, it seemed to rejuvenate him.

Maybe this was all just a dream, and he would wake up the next day, with a rifle by his side and a cold camp bed beneath him, but somehow, he didn't think so. Even he couldn't dream up something this weird.

"Penny for your thoughts?"

Mimi. He'd been so wrapped up in his own thoughts that he hadn't heard her come onto the balcony. He smiled at her. Her pink-dyed hair was mottled, the conditions of the past day forcing it to revert slightly to it's natural brown. The image was slightly comic, and his smile twitched slightly as he realised that the rose he had given her now decorated her brow.

"Just wondering when we'll get out of this mess. Yourself?"

"Pretty much the same. I… wanted to thank you, Liam."

"Why would you have to thank me?"

"Because every time I've been in trouble lately, you've been there to bail me out. I owe you for that."

He shook his head.

"You don't owe me a thing, Mimi. All I've been doing is my job."

"No. You've been doing more than that, for all of us."

Liam shook his head. He wanted to tell her how he felt, but now wasn't the time. Even as he opened his mouth to speak again, a strange harmonic melody started to filter up from the underground chasm beneath them.

=============================================================

In the house, Davis looked up at the sound of the strange song, and ululating rhythm that cut through the caves still air.

"Why are they singing?" asked Kari.

The master turned from the window to face them, his bearded face smiling ironically.

"They sing because the Paladin is here."

Davis looked confused.

"For me? But why?"

"Because you are the Paladin, Daisuke Motomiya. The people in this valley, like me, have been waiting for your return for a long time."

TK looked over from where he leant on the wall.

"Why for Davis especially?"

"Because he is the one on which all rests. He is the one on whom the fate of both the digital and human world is placed. We are the people of prophecy, Takeru Takaishi, and we know for whom we have waited."

"Who are you?"

"All in good time, Daisuke. For now, you must rejuvenate yourselves. Quarters have been set aside for you, but feel free to take a look around the village and town. You may find it enlightening."

Davis stood.

"Thankyou, Master." 

"You have no need to call me master, Daisuke, but for the moment, it is as good a name as any. I will explain all when you have rested."

=============================================================

Kari walked through the village, looking around. Davis had dropped into a deep slumber the moment he had hit the bed in their chamber, and so she had left him alone with his exhaustion, choosing instead to look around this strangely calm village underneath the digital world. Gatomon walked alongside her human partner.

"It's so peaceful here." Kari admonished.

"It's completely isolated Kari. There's no need for war down here, only peace."

They rounded a corner, and Kari smiled. A group of children were playing there, and she hung back slightly, not wanting to disturb their game. One of them spotted her, however, and they crowded round, hugging her legs. She smiled, despite the fact she was almost being pulled off balance.

"Hey, careful there."

The kids grinned up at her, then backed off. Kari grinned after them, and turned. One of the smallest kids was standing there. And she knelt in front of the little girl.

"Hey."

The child smiled.

"Why are you so sad?"

"What makes you think I'm sad?"

"It's lying on you like a weight. What happened to make you sad?"

"Have you ever been sad?"

"Sometimes. I usually get over it though."

"Well, I can't get over it yet, because it happened only a little while ago. My friends and me were trying to stop some bad people… but things didn't work out the way we planned."

"Sometimes that happens. You can't do anything about it, Lady Hikari."

Kari looked at her oddly.

"How do you know my name?"

"Everyone here's been waiting for you. I'm learning the prophecy at the moment."

"The prophecy?"

"Yeah. It's hard to learn, but I'm trying hard, honest!"

Kari laughed at the girls affronted tone.

"I'm sure you are. What does the prophecy say about me?"

The girl smiled, and instead of answering, held out her hand. Kari reached out, and took it. As she did, she felt the little girls mind gently press against her own – not in the forceful way that the power of the dark crests, but a subtle, peaceful way. The girl was obviously waiting for an invitation before being allowed into Kari's mind, and the Digidestined, curious, concentrated and allowed her mind to open.

Light surrounded her and Gatomon, and she looked down. The little girl was still holding her hand, and smiling up at her.

_"Where are we?"_

_"This is the prophecy. I have the gift – I can go to the prophecy when I want. I like to come here when I want to be alone."_

_Kari smiled. The light faded, and she found herself standing in a cave. Along the low walls were paintings._

_"What do these mean?" she asked._

_"They show what is yet to come."_

_"Dayla." A third voice joined in the conversation. _

_The little girl twisted around, Kari following suit. The Master stood there, his arms folded. He was giving the girl a bemused look._

_"What have I told you, Dayla?"_

_The little girl gave the exaggerated sigh of a child who knows a rebuke is coming._

_"That I'm not to bring people to the prophecy chamber without permission."_

_"That's right. I don't mind you coming here on your own, but your mind isn't subtle enough to bring others here yet, okay?"_

_Dayla pouted. The Master grinned at her, and then at Kari._

_"Lady Hikari, if you're finished, can you come back to my house please. I need to talk to you all, properly this time."_

_"Yes, Master."_

_"Dayla, you go and play, alright? If I need you, I'll send for you."_

_The girl glared at him, but nodded. Then the Master made a quick motion with his hands, and Kari felt her mind subtly shift in focus,_

Bringing her back to the real world. She looked down at Dayla. The little girl pouted.

"I can too cope with other people. Are you going now?"

"I really should, Dayla. But thankyou."

Dayla wasn't listening.

"Please wait a second, Lady Hikari…"

"Just Kari, please."

The girl nodded, and quickly dashed into the building next to her. She scampered back out, and handed Kari something. It was a bracelet, made of interwoven strands of thread. The threads were so fine that the bracelet weighed almost nothing on the palm of her hand. She looked into the girls eyes.

"Thankyou, Dayla… but I don't have anything to give you…"

"You don't have to give me anything. That bracelet means that we're connected now. I'm your guide. That'll show the master."

"How old are you, Dayla?"

"Six."

"You're very confident for someone your age. And very clever too."

Kari thought quickly, and then unslung her light backpack. She rummaged around in it for a minute, before she located the item she wanted. She passed it to Dayla.

"There. Now you have a gift from me too."

Dayla grinned, and slipped the chain on over her neck. The small metal whistle at the end fell against her small chest, and she lifted it to her lips, and blew it gently. Kari smiled.

"Whistle if you ever need my help, okay? I'll try and get there as soon as I can."

She stood, and slipped the bracelet on over her wrist. Again, she felt the light touch of Dayla's young mind, this time in a small farewell. The little girl grinned up at her, and Gatomon, who had watched the exchange silently, surprised Kari by suddenly dodging forward and licking the girl gently on the cheek, before scampering back to Kari's side, and leaping up onto her shoulder.

Kari almost said, goodbye, but then she realised she didn't need to. She turned and walked away, grinning broadly.

=============================================================

Davis crawled his way back to consciousness as he felt someone shaking his arm. He looked up, and saw that Kari was smiling gently down at him. He blinked in the bright lights of the underground chamber, and stood.

"Hey. What's up?"

"The Master said he's gonna explain everything to us now, and to wake you."

He nodded, and reached for his shirt. He glanced briefly at the golden Katana that lay by the bed, and decided to take it with him. A little intimidation always helped.. They walked through to the main living space, where the others were already gathered. The Master was again standing looking out of the window at the village beneath them. He turned, and pulled a book from the shelf next to him.

"Welcome back, Daisuke. Now that you've joined us, we can begin." He said wryly.

Davis cast the small man a look of slight annoyance, and sat on the carpet, sprawled against one of the walls.

"Do you mind telling us why you brought us to this place, Master?" he asked.

The other man smiled, and opened the book.

"Daisuke, your coming to this place has been pre-destined for a long time now. You may not know it, but you are currently the most important person in both the worlds."

He flicked through the old parchment pages of the book, until he found his place.

"In this book, Daisuke, is recorded all the prophecies of the Paladins. It is one volume of many, but it is the most vital to your cause."

He stopped, and frowned slightly.

"Hikari, where did you get that bracelet?"

Kari blushed. 

"The little girl, Dayla gave it to me Master."

The older man sighed.

"Trust her to take her own destiny in hand. I'll have to talk to her about that. Anyway."

He turned to look back at them.

"Your quest has been recorded long before you came to this place, Daisuke. You and your companions have been chosen before your battle for Coast town even begun. It was doomed to fail from the start."

Michael, Davis noticed, turned away. The Master glanced at the blonde man.

"Yes, Michael, you were being manipulated. But I shall start from the beginning."

He turned back to the book, and began to read.

"And it shall come to pass that the Paladin shall come to the houses of Prophecy, and shall have the prophecy revealed to him. His battle before shalt have failed, and he walks, unknowing into the future. but so long as his companions remain true, he shall prevail, no matter how long it takes."

He pointed at Jun.

"The Healer, daughter of the house of Motomiya, who shall turn the tide of the darkness in her own way."

Next he shifted his gaze to Mimi.

"The Maiden, whose hope shall keep the company strong, and guide them to their ultimate prevalence."

He turned to look at Tai, Matt and Sora.

"The trinity, the three who art the shield of the company, defending it with all their might."

Then he turned to Nick Pallet.

"The soldier, strong and true, skilled and mighty, the foe of the shadows."

He turned to Michael, and seemed to pause for a moment. His gaze showed no anger, only pity.

"The traitor, whose act for peace caused only war. Be stout of heart yet, for you may find redemption."

Davis noticed that Liam remained quiet throughout the revelation, even as the Master turned to him.

"The Knight. Sworn protector of the Paladin's house, who shall be gifted with the weapons he needs."

With that ominous phrase, he turned to TK and Tasha.

"The Sword and the Huntress – the two strongest weapons of the Paladin's household. Once started, nothing can stand in their way."

Then he turned to Kari and Davis, sat side by side on the floor.

"The Rose. The Paladin's one true love, whose bloom shall drive away all the darkness from his life, keeping him from forgetting his course."

Then those kindly eyes settled on Davis.

"The Paladin – the holy warrior of the line of Motomiya. Protector of the digital world, guardian of the crests and bearer of the sun-blade."

He closed the book. Davis was startled out of his reverie at the Masters strangely hypnotic words.

"Is that it?"

"It is all I am permitted to reveal at this point Daisuke."

He glanced at Michael.

"Do not fear, Michael. The way things turned out was not your decision. Your role was chosen centuries before you were even born – if it had not been you, it would have been one of the others. Believe me when I say this."

He stood.

"Liam, Takeru, Daisuke. I must ask you to accompany me."

The three stood. Davis turned to his companions.

"Wait here, please. I think we might have to leave in a little while."

The master stopped at the door, and glanced over his shoulder.

"Regretfully, Daisuke, that is indeed the case."

He walked around his house to a small door set directly into the walls of the cavern. Pulling a golden key from around his neck, he twisted it in the lock. The metal door swung open, revealing only darkness inside.

"Follow me."

"Where are you taking us?" asked TK.

"There are things you must be given."

They followed him down the narrow passageway.

"Why couldn't you tell us anything more about the prophecy?" asked Liam.

"Because I am not permitted to. To reveal the future is to influence it's outcome, and I cannot do that. Events must take their course. But there is some help I AM permitted to give."

Davis, despite the darkness, heard the sound of another door opening, and gentle light spilled into the passageway.

The room was large, and the three of them could fit inside easily. The Master shrugged.

"I apologize for the tight fit of the corridor. No-one told me that Liam would be so… big."

Despite himself, Davis laughed. The heavy, almost ceremonial air dissipated, leaving a feeling of intense relief. The Master turned to him.

"What you are about to see was a burden placed on me by your ancestor, Ichiro Motomiya." He shrugged. "Yes, I am that old. My duty can only be performed me, and so I live on. That's what you get for volunteering for anything a Motomiya asks you to do."

He grinned broadly at Davis, and pressed a button on the wall.  A hole opened in the roof, and light shone down onto a small Dais in the centre of the room. Snow floated gently down through the portal.

On the table lay two swords. The Master strode forward, and first picked up the one on the left, a Katana, shining silvery in the winter light. He turned, and walked to TK.

"This was once the sword of the Paladin's brother. It can only be borne by the man who is the Paladin's truest partner in battle. From what my Guardians have told me, that is you."

He turned the blade, and laid it gently across his own forearm. TK hesitated for a moment, and then took the shining sword. Davis felt his own Katana sing in exultation. He drew the golden blade, and TK held out his own sword. The two blades touched lightly together, and Davis felt a surge of immense joy emanate from his sword, as if it was glad to see its brother once again.

The Master turned back to the Dais, and lifted another sword. This one was different – instead of a Katana, it was a steel grey longsword. The flat of the blade was decorated with a spiralling pattern, and in each loop was contained the symbol of Courage that was on Davis's own crest. The Master turned to Liam, and lifted the blade, one-handed, to his face, the flat facing the big Irishman.

"This, Liam, was my sword. I swore, in those early days of the first Paladin, that I would protect his household, and when my duty was finished, I would wait until the next who would take my duty arrived. You are my Oath-brother, Liam Dillon, so take my sword, and fulfil your duty."

Liam didn't hesitate. The Irish warriors hand came up, and grasped the upper half of the silver-inlaid hilt of the longsword. The Master let go.

"Ichiro Motomiya was my best friend. I have now fulfilled the oath I made to him, and from this moment on, I shall finally start to age."

Liam looked startled.

"Does that mean…?"

"No, Liam!" The Master laughed. "You will not have immortality placed upon you. Believe me, it's an extremely overrated element of life. No, you will live your life, and you will pass the sword down your own line now."

Liam nodded and withdrew his old sword. Turning it, he offered it to the Master.

"Please, take this, as a gift from the new Knight to the old."

The Master nodded, and took the blade. The two stepped back, and raised the flats of their swords to their faces in salutation. The Liam sheathed his new sword. The four of them turned and made their way back up the passageway.

"May I ask your name, Master?" Davis asked.

"Of course. My name is Tetsato Dartha."

=============================================================

They moved back into the house, and sat down. TK handed his old Katana to Tasha, and sheathed his new silver blade in the scabbard over his back. Mimi moved next to Liam.

"So, you're a knight, are you?"

"So I've been told."

She grinned slyly, and pulled a handkerchief out of her pocket.

"The knight's gotta have a favour, right?" she said.

Liam smiled, and took the handkerchief. He tied it around the hilt of his new sword, and smiled at her.

"So what now?" asked Tai.

Before anyone could answer him, the sound of a whistle blasted up from the village.

"That's Dayla!" cried Kari, diving for the door. One of the Guardians was waiting outside, his sealed face still managing to convey a sense of panic.

"_Master! The Shadowmon are here!_"

The Digidestined grabbed their weapons, and ran for the village.

=============================================================

The attack had come completely without warning, slamming home with the force of a spear strike, but not all was lost. The guardians fought against the mass of Shadowmon, their blades flickering in the light of the cavern.

"Get the people into the tunnels!" yelled the Master.

He turned to Davis and the Digidestined.

"You must leave."

"I can't just leave your people!"

"The Shadowmon are here because of you, Daisuke!  If you go, they have no reason to be here!"

Davis paused, but he saw the logic behind the little mans argument.

"…FUCK!" he snarled. He turned to his companions. "Let's go!"

"Take the tunnel to the right! It leads to an old mining shaft, with carts big enough to hold people! They'll take you far enough away that they can't catch you here!"

"Thankyou, Master."

"Just go, fast!"

The Digidestined turned, and ran for the tunnel entrance on the far side of the village. The Master looked after them.

  
"God help you, Daisuke. And you, Liam Dillon." 

With that, he turned, drew his battered sword, and faced the Shadowmon ranks alongside the Guardians.

=============================================================

Davis ran through the dark tunnel, his sword in his hand. Every time! Every time they found safety, it was snatched away from them! His anger almost overwhelmed him, but instead formed a steady litany of curses that spewed from his mouth.

They reached the mine carts, and they were easily big enough to hold the small group in two of them.

"Where's the release switch?" asked TK.

"Over there, by the door!" said Tasha. Davis immediately saw the fault in their planning.

"Whoever releases the switch is gonna have to stay behind." He looked down at Veemon, who nodded, the turned to his friends. "Get into the carts. I'll find some way to catch up."

"Davis!" Kari gasped.

"You cant stay behind, Davis!"

"This is what I have to do! Don't try and stop me!"

Kari turned to Liam. 

"Tell him, Liam!" 

The rest of the group had already climbed into the carts, and Liam gestured for Kari to follow them. He clapped his hand on Davis's shoulder.

"You're a brave man, Davis."

"Thanks, Liam. You'd better get into the cart…"

He was cut off as the big Irishman's fist slammed into his belly doubling him over and knocking the wind out of him. Liam picked him up like a child, and put him in the cart. Mimi stood.

"Liam, No!"

He cut her off by suddenly kissing her full on the lips.

"Remember me, Mimi."

He turned, dashed over to the release switch, and pulled them hard down. The mine carts started to roll away.

"Liam!!!" Came Davis's agonised cry.

The big Irishman ignored his friend, and picked up his rifle. The sounds of the Shadowmon echoed down the passageway. He looked up slowly. The cars vanished round the corner, and Davis's voice was cut off.

He heard the snarls, and the hot air of the Shadowmon wafted towards him. He raised his rifle to his hip.

"Right, you bastards!"

He pulled the trigger, spraying on full automatic at the deformed creatures, cutting them down like wheat before a scythe. The flying bullets ricocheted round the corners in the tunnel, cutting down the enemies that Liam couldn't even see yet.

The firing pin clicked on empty, and Liam casually tossed the rifle aside, and drew his sword. The blade shone in the darkness, and he raised it in front of him. Bright light sprung from the pommel, blinding the creatures in the tunnel.

The Shadowmon stumbled, and when they got back to their feet, out of the shining light sprang an Irish warrior from the realms of myth. Liam's sword cut down the first of them, decapitating them even as he went past. He lunged, and kicked the one he had impaled through the stomach neatly off the end of his blade. He slashed through them with reckless abandon, as the adrenaline took over. He neatly cut the last ones throat and turned. He could here more in the corridor, and he retreated to the chamber. He pulled a grenade from his belt.

"That's it. Last stand done."

Pulling the pin, he threw the grenade with all of his strength into the passageway. The explosion set the ground writhing, and it cracked open, as the Irish warrior fell into the darkness.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12:

*********

They sat in silence; the only sound the rhythmic clacking of the carts wheels. Davis gripped the hilt of his sword, as the tears sprung to his eyes once more. Mimi, if anything, had withdrawn into herself, ignoring the rest of the group and silently hiding her face behind her arms. Her shoulders were shaking, and Davis suddenly felt the urge to comfort her. Michael sat across from her, not daring to move any closer. 

"Mimi?" 

"Leave me alone, Michael. After all that's happened, I don't need to talk to you."

"Mimi, I…"

"JUST SHUT UP!" 

It was practically a scream, and the blonde man recoiled. The venom in her voice stung him more than anything that Taythe or the Shadowmon could have thrown at him.

"I didn't mean for this to happen, Mimi." He said quietly. "I didn't mean…"

"Well, it did, Michael, so shut the hell up and leave me alone!"

 Michael shut up.

"What's gonna happen?" asked TK.

"Huh?" Davis replied.

"I mean… Everything. What are we gonna do now?"

Davis shrugged.

"I think we should head for the real world." Nick Pallet interjected.

Davis looked at him sharply.

"Why do you say that, Nick?"

"It's a good tactic. If nothing else, we can gather our forces there, and make our way back into the digiworld. We can't fight them all on our own, Davis."

Davis nodded. He felt lost. Without realising it, he had come to rely on Liam. He'd gotten used to looking over his shoulder, and seeing the big Irishman standing there, usually with either a gun or a pint-glass in his hand. Now, everyone was looking to him for leadership, and he didn't know what to do. He looked up at them. They were cold, but at least they'd had the chance to rest back in the town. Despite it though, he still felt drained.

"There's nothing we can do until this damn cart reaches the end of the line anyways. For the moment, lets save our strength."

Kari gently picked her way across the crowded bed of the cart, and sat next to him.

"And then what, Davis?"

"I don't know, Kari, I truly don't."

DemiVeemon reclined on Davis's shoulder, looking over the rear edge of the cart. 

"Why does this always seem to happen to us?" the little blue Digimon sighed.

"Oh, shut up." Gatomon snapped.

=============================================================

The carts trundled onwards, and at last, Tai pointed towards the edge of their vision.

"There's a light up there."

And there was. Not the yellow, artificial light that they had used down in the caves, but stark, white light, streaming through the snow that covered the surface of the digital world.

The Digidestined and Digimon moved towards the front of their cart, eyes fixed on the light ahead of them, though whether in foreboding or in gladness, none could tell.

The cart slammed into the bollard in front of them, a bone-jarring halt that sent them all falling over onto each other. In any other circumstances, the situation might have looked comic, but in this day, nothing could have made them seem brighter. Davis stood, and got out of the cart.

"C'mon. We've gotta keep moving."

He reached over his shoulder, and loosened his Katana in its scabbard. Just in case. He had a bad feeling, and the last time that had happened had been just before Viramon had decided to take a chunk out of the helicopter they were riding in. Tasha came up next to him.

"It doesn't feel right, does it?"

He shook his head.

"Nothing does any more, Tasha. Not today."

Salamandramon uncurled herself from around Tasha's neck, and leapt to the ground. Davis looked after the small lizard-Digimon, and grinned slightly.

"Let's go." 

They walked off into the heavy Blizzard, and the young leader of the Digidestined pulled his goggles down over his eyes to keep the freezing cold from making them tear up. Kari walked next to him, shivering in the biting weather.

"We cant keep going forever, Davis!" she yelled over the wind.

"I know! We need to find some shelter!" He yelled back.

Pallet, who had been striding in the lead, suddenly came to a halt. 

"I think it's a little late for that, Davis." He said, and his voice had the echoing ring of finality to it that Davis had only heard him use when he didn't give much for their chances."

"Huh? What's up?"

Veemon also came to a dead halt, his sharp eyes focusing on the sight ahead of them.

"Uh-oh…"

"It's too late for all of you, Paladin!" Came a cold female voice. Although he had only heard it once before, Davis knew that voice. He reached down, and whipped the Berettas from their holsters in one smooth motion, sighting along the barrels as the rest of the group spread out, raising their own weapons defiantly.

Taythe stood in the snow before them, her long Raven hair flowing out behind her. Flanking her, the Shadowmon stood, hunched shapes dark against the pure white of the snow.

"Drop your weapons, all of you." the girl commanded.

"I don't think so!" shout Tai defiantly above the howling wind.

The Digidestined gripped their D3s, fingers reaching for the activation studs. Davis waved a hand at them, halting their movements.

"No…"

Matt blanched in disbelief.

"No? What are you talking about, Motomiya?"

"Those Shadowmon have got enough bows aimed at us to stop us all before we fired a shot. Wait for the signal."

"What signal?"

"You'll know it when you see it, Matt. She's gonna have bigger things against us than the Shadowmon, but I have to face her alone."

He stepped forward, his pistols dropping to the snow behind him.

"I know what I have to do now."

He undid the buckles that held his scabbard in place, and swung the sword round in front of him. He pulled the shining Golden Katana from its sheath, and dropped the scabbard into the snow. Veemon bounded forward, and stood next to his partner.

"Oh, How sweet." Taythe sneered. "The lone champion fighting for the protection of his friends. I think I'm going to vomit."

Davis's eyes narrowed, but with a visible effort, he restrained his temper.

"Just because you've never had anyone to protect Taythe. My father always told me not to knock something until you've tried it." 

Now it was Taythe's turn to snarl at the Paladin. Not witty rebuke issued from the Girl's mouth, though. Instead, she swept back her cloak, and drew her black longsword from the scabbard underneath. Davis smiled.

"Alright, now we're getting somewhere."

He spun his katana in his hand, the blade winging in a circle parallel to his arm. He pulled out his D3. 

"If this has to be done, Taythe, I'm in no mood to delay the inevitable."

For the first time since he had met her, a smile creased Taythe's face.

"As you say, Paladin… why wait?"

And she pulled her own D3 from her sword belt, and pressed the activation stud at the same instant as Davis.

Veemon Leapt into the air, carried by the surge of energy that leapt up from Davis's Digivice, even as a mirror image of black energy leapt up from them across the small patch of snow. The small blue Digimon's form started to grow, and white armour began to form on his body, enveloping him like a skin-tight cloud.

"I think that's the signal!" TK yelled. 

The Digimon who remained leapt into the sky, transforming as they went.

=============================================================

Nick Pallet, being neither Digidestined nor Paladin, felt strangely detached from this fight. What he was, was a soldier, and that meant that he was going to fight. Despite Davis's ministrations that the battle was between him and Taythe alone, the former SAS member could see the Shadowmon circumventing the circle of Snow where the two combatants stood. He glanced around, and pulled himself up on a largish rock overlooking the field. Unslinging his rifle, he sat crosslegged, and fixed a scope onto the top of the weapon. he neatly placed a Shadowmon forehead in the middle of the crosshairs, and squeezed the trigger.

The high-velocity bullet didn't explode the head, didn't cause any movie-style mutilation, but Nick knew he had aimed right when a slight gout of greyish vapour puffed from the other side of the creatures head. The other Shadowmon paused, and Pallet grinned, moving his sight to the next in line.

=============================================================

The white light dimmed, and Instead of Veemon, there now stood a shining figure in armour. Only once before had Angewoman seen this figure, and that was at the battle in front of Paul's tower. Edenamon stood tall, even as the column of dark energy that had shot up from Taythe's D3 began to from the shapes of the huge dragons that had once been the bane of the digital world, and were now assuming that position once more.

One Digimon, however, had stayed on the ground. Salamandramon was still focusing, as Tasha reached inside her shirt and pulled out the two crests she bore, the crest of Truth and the crest of Life. she clenched them together, and the little Lizard Digimon's eyes bored into hers. 

A dome of light covered the group of Digidestined, as Salamandramon finally took to the skies, yelling as she went.

"SALAMANDRAMON, WARP-DIGIVOLVE TO… NEOBAHAMAMON!!!"

The huge dragon-shape of Tasha's Digimon circled once in the sky, before coming to float next to Edenamon. Aside from the white-armoured Digimon, NeoBahamamon was the only Digimon to have faced down Viramon successfully. The combined power of the two was a force to be reckoned with.

The Twelve dragons of the old world formed up opposite the line of Digimon, their snarling maws roaring in the night air. 

=============================================================

Daisuke Motomiya lowered his Digivice, and clasped it onto his belt. Then he gripped the hilt of his katana, and closed his eyes. All that filled his mind was the thought of Hikari Kamiya, the woman he loved. She was standing barely ten paces behind him, but for all her could do, she might have been a million miles away. he looked up.

"I believe the time has come, Taythe."

"I believe it has, Daisuke."

The two enemies rushed at each other for the first time, and their blades met in a thunderous clang, the curved metal of the Katana striking against the straight blade of the longsword.

And then they were past each other, and spinning. The opening gambit had been made, and now it was time for the duel.

Davis came up low, an uphand strike aimed at Taythe's throat, a lethal strike. Anything less would have been folly. The raven-haired girl parried the strike almost negligently, whipping her blade at his eyes. With catlike reflexes, he leapt back from the cut, and kicked out, catching her in the stomach. She flinched back, winded momentarily, and Davis waited.

=============================================================

The Twelve swept forward, their advantage in numbers allowing them to flank around the Digimon battle line, coming at them from both sides. Angemon parried a huge clawed hand with his glaive, striking back with lightning speed.

The dragon, however, was faster than the Angel-Digimon had anticipated, rearing back in a wreath of flame, before reeling around to claw once more. Angemon knocked it stoutly across the head, and glanced over his shoulder.

Edenamon was facing at least three of them alone, and it didn't take a genius to not that they were the largest of the dragons. He huge scaly creatures surrounded the white-armoured figure, preparing to come at him from all sides.

"Surrender, Edenamon." Said the largest.

"No, Terras, I don't think I'll do that."

"We already owe thou a debt, Edenamon. You did not destroy us last time we thought."

"And I doubt I will this time, but I cannot surrender to you whilst you serve Taythe."

The Dragon looked strangely dispirited as it charged. 

Edenamon, however, didn't remain idle. A huge cannon suddenly sprouted out of his arm, and as he dodged aside, and energy bolt sent the dragon Terras reeling.

"BUSTER BLAST!!!" Yelled Edenamon as the bolt released.

He didn't dodge as the second dragon came at him from behind. His fist snapped upright from the elbow, connecting with the Dragon's snout as neatly as a surgeons scalpel.

=============================================================

In their dome of protective light, the Digidestined watched. There was little else they could do. The few sounds that filtered through were chaotic – the muffled reports of Pallet's rifle, the sound of the Digimon battling overhead, and the clang of steel on steel as Davis and Taythe fought.

Kari grasped her hands in front of her, staring through the dome at the duel taking place on the snow-covered field.

"C'mon, Davis…" she whispered. "You can't lose… not after we've come this far."

=============================================================

Taythe's boot slammed into his face, and stars blasted through Davis's vision as his world reeled around him. He fell, slipping in the cold snow, and rolled as the black longswords blade cut into the place where his neck had been. He came to his feet, barely in time to knock away a lunge directed at his chest. The second cut, however, slashed at the flesh of his thigh, and he flinched as the blade cut into his leg.

He backed off, his Katana raised. Taythe laughed.

"Daisuke, I thought I'd be home for dinner by now, but this is truly impressive."

"Glad I can be of service…" Davis grinned between gritted teeth.

Taythe smiled again, and her blade whipped up. The blows came quick and fast, and it was all Davis could do to parry them, never mind launch an attack of his own. The disappointment on the Raven-haired girls face was palpable.

"That cant be all you've got?" she said in disbelief.

"Haven't you got anything better to do than taunt me?" He snarled back at her.

Her eyes narrowed, and she looked over at the protective dome of light.

"Perhaps and incentive is required…"

She raised her hand, and Davis could feel some kind of energy flow out of the raised palm. The dome faltered, and vanished. Next, Taythe looked to the sky, and Davis felt the same surge.

A muffle thud landed next to him. He glanced down, as Gatomon raised her head out of the snow.

"Huh… what happened?" the little cat Digimon said.

Davis looked at Taythe in shock, as the Shadowmon started to slink towards his friends. The firing of Nick Pallet's rifle became more frequent, as the soldier struggled to fell as many of the creatures as he could before they overran the Digidestined. The staccato firing was picked up by the sound of Mimi's Beretta and Jun's shotgun. The girl shrugged.

"Who knows? Maybe you'll manage to save them. You've just gotta stop me first!"

And she swung her sword again, as Davis's Katana whipped up to parry.

=============================================================

Edenamon hadn't failed to notice that he was surrounded. His companions had all vanished, even NeoBahamamon, and so he now faced all twelve of the dragons on his own. The Cannon on his arm sprouted again. 

"BUSTER BLAST!!!" 

Energy bolts flew from his wrist, driving the circle of the twelve back. He felt the energy drain on his body. He couldn't keep this up for long. 

A fireball slammed into his back, knocking him forward, and he began to writhe as all twelve of the Dragon Digimon opened up on him, blasts of energy rocking him from side to side.

He fell, and barely recovered before he slammed into the ground below. Instead of Moving to hit the Dragons, though his return flight sent him driving straight upwards, past their forms.

A good hundred feet above them, he stopped, and clasped his hands together, summoning all that remained of his strength.

"REDEMPTIONS…EYE!!!"

A titanic beam of energy erupted from his clasped hands, surging outwards, leaving him with barely enough strength to fly. 

The Dragons, however, had grouped together, and before the beam hit them, a crackling field of lightening spread out in front of them. The beam slammed into it, splashing like water over a glass vase.

"Oh. That's new…" Edenamon had time to say, before the replying energyballs slammed into his chest, sending him spiralling towards the ground below, his form shrinking back to that of Veemon even as he fell.

=============================================================

Davis parried Taythe's stroke, and stepped away from the backswing. If the girl was tiring, she sure as hell wasn't showing it. If anything, the fight seemed to exhilarate her.

He lunged at her, and she stepped aside, allowing the move to carry him past her. her sword razored into the flesh of his arm, making him yell in pain.

"Davis!" Kari yelled. 

He looked up into her eyes, and his grip on his weapon tightened.

"I love you, Kari…" He said.

Despite the distance between them, Kari heard his words. She started to run as he turned back to his opponent. But it was too late.

The Katana leapt up in a mighty swing, even as Taythe's weapon also swung towards the man she loved.

"DAVIS!!!" she yelled once more.

The blades met in a titanic explosion of light, blinding everyone in the vicinity.

But above all the other sounds, came a monstrous CRACK. The light dimmed, and Davis was past Taythe. Hundreds of Tiny sparkles shone in the air, flying past them.

As The two blades had met, The golden Katana, the symbol of the paladin, had shattered, spraying metal across the field. The black Longsword remained whole, and the front of Davis's shirt, instead of it's usual white, was stained a ghastly Red. Even as Kari began to run towards him, he fell to his knees, and collapsed forward onto the snow covered ground.

Her legs pumped as she ran, but before she could reach him, she was seized roughly by the Shadowmon. 

Taythe casually wiped her longsword on the hem of her cloak, and thrust it home. The girl was trembling, not out of cold, but out of what had just happened. 

"Mistress." It was one of the Shadowmon, it's size denoting that it was one of the commanders.

"What?"

"What about the Digidestined, mistress?" it asked.

"They come with us."

"And the others?"

"Leave them."

"But…"

She glared at him, and the force of her will knocked him sprawling. He got slowly to his feet, hatred boring from his eyes.

"When I feel the desire to share command, I'll tell you. Until then, you do as _I_ say. Is that understood?"

It held her gaze for a moment more, and then nodded. Taythe looked over at Jun and Pallet, who had been herded away from the others, their weapons taken from them.

"He fought well. He doesn't deserve to die alone."

She turned away, and the Shadowmon followed her, the field emptying in minutes. Jun ran over to her fallen brother, and knelt by his side. She felt for a pulse, and gently turned him over, flinching at the wound across his chest. She reached into her pack, and pulled out several of the casualty cushions that she had brought with her from the city. She looked up at Pallet.

"Don't just stand there, help me!" she yelled.

"No-one can survive a wound like that, Jun!"

"He's still alive right now! I might be able to save him! Help me, Goddammit!"

And he knelt next to her, as they started to work, and the snow around them started to ease, towards the lightness that heralded warmer weather.

The End… 

_But _

To Be Continued… 


End file.
